Naruto 1. Of Seasons

**The Four Seasons**

by Rizember

**xxx-xxx**

**Chapter 1: Of Seasons**

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**Beta'ed by:** moondemon1310. This fic's permanent beta if she'll have me. I lurve her work so... Fingers crossed, eh?

**xxx-xxx**

**Summary**: I never wanted to be a season... It's just one of the many ways life just isn't fair.

**xxx-xxx**

**Disclaimer:** insert witty disclaimer here.

**xxx-xxx**

"Uzumaki!"

I groaned.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing sir."

"EXACTLY!"

I blinked.

Ok...didn't see that coming...

Usually I was in trouble for doing something.

The Detention Teacher must be getting bored.

He could just say he misses me...instead of plotting to have me thrown in detention for not _doing _anything.

"Pay attention to the video, Uzumaki."

"I can't do that sir."

"And why not?"

How can I politely tell him that I just don't give a damn...?

Hmmm...

"Well, sir. I just don't give a damn."

3...2...1...

"Detention Uzumaki!"

Yup, right on time.

I leaned back in my chair and wondered why the heck the other students were watching the video so attentively.

Its topic was something we'd been surrounded with as children...it even had its own subject in school...which I always aced but hated anyway.

The Four Seasons.

That's basically what life revolves around on this planet.

The bloody chosen four.

Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn.

It's like the aristocracy of this whole world.

I guess that makes some sense...but then again, I still really don't care.

And even though I don't care...there isn't anything I don't know about the Seasons.

The title of Summer is currently held by Tsunade, a strong woman whose battles have always been legendary.

Winter is Orochimaru, some creepy-looking guy with snake eyes.

Autumn is Jiraiya, a known pervert, and Spring is Kakashi, also a known pervert.

So there's a fifty percent chance of being a season if you're a pervert.

Math is never wrong, except for the times that it is, in fact, incorrect.

Every fifty years on the fiftieth day, the Seasons are changed, replaced by new ones.

Tomorrow marks the forty-ninth day of the fiftieth year.

Schools all over the world are breeding their students to become seasons, never mind the fact that there are only four positions.

My school's the same.

Decorations were placed everywhere and it looks like a whole mixture of holidays collided in the school's hallways, had quite an impressive battle that somehow involved an embarrassing amount of glitter, and then simultaneously exploded.

Pitiful.

Every fifteen year old the world over is hoping to be chosen, every single one of them, except me.

There really isn't any protocol to being chosen.

You don't need any special abilities or academic prowess...unless the current season wants you to.

They're the ones who choose their successors after all.

Tomorrow morning, four schools will receive amulets, one each...letting them know that the season to whom it belongs will choose a successor from that particular school on the fiftieth day.

Every Principal around the globe wants a Winter amulet.

It's been suggested Winter is the most powerful of the four.

I, on the other hand, disagree.

But then, my opinion is immeasurably unimportant.

But here's how I figure it:

Summer is an obvious season...you get sunshine, vacations, girls in skimpy clothing...

Winter's the same. Cloudy, snowy, runny noses upping the snot scales...

On the other hand, Spring and Autumn are like… intermediates.

They have a little of both.

So why is it that no one sees this?

Honestly, if I were chosen as Winter, I'd die. Some would call it suicide but I'm not one to dilly-dally over terms that won't matter if I'm expired.

I mean, we could just say I became a homicidal maniac but only killed myself...

Yup, that works.

The bell rang and I left for lunch, grabbing my backpack on the way.

Now, I won't say I'm emo or unfriendly... I smile at everyone and if anyone asked, I'm known by the whole school.

I've changed quite a bit though...

I'm not loud and obnoxious anymore...and I actually took up the tedious job of studying.

But if I think about it, I don't really have any friends.

I mean, people talk to me, ask me to hang out, get advice, pour their hearts out...everything...

I'm like a public best friend.

I, on the other hand, have no one like that.

If I have a problem, I sort it out myself, usually with a flyswatter and gummy bears (don't ask).

For all the people who consider me their best friend, none of them bother to ask me what's wrong.

Sure, I get the occasional concerned glance when I'm not smiling...but that's about it.

Sad, really.

And I'm not really anti-season as much as I just prefer to observe from a far, far distance.

So, back to the seasons, apart from being royalty, they act as this world's guardians.

From what?

I shivered.

I'd rather not think about it.

Anyway, to do this, they each have special powers- some known, some secret.

Summer can use fire and Winter uses ice...

I'm pretty sure they have other abilities too...

Spring and Autumn however...I'm not really sure.

All I recall is that a plaque stands in the International Museum of Seasons.

It reads "Autumn may fall but gracefully, for all".

Legend has it that a past Autumn died in battle...and all battle ceased.

While I believe Autumn saved them, others believe Autumn just got killed and Winter saved the day but gave credit to his fallen comrade.

Another thing...other seasons may be of any sex but Winter has always been a guy.

Tch. Sexists.

I made my way into the library and nodded at the librarian, Iruka-sensei, who nodded back and smiled.

I rushed up the hidden stairway just behind his desk, obstructed by a large shelf of books.

Reaching a white metal door, I shoved it open and blinked at the brightness.

Taking in a deep breath, I stepped into the sunshine and moved to sit under the lovely shade provided by a large parasol Iruka had set up when he first realized I spent lunches up here alone.

I took a bottle from my bag and sipped at my OJ.

With my eyes closed as I lay back down, I set my bottle aside.

"Uzumaki."

I didn't even open an eye.

"Nara."

Shikamaru Nara.

Known to all as the school's resident Einstein.

Known to me as the laziest ass ever born.

For the moment, we are kindred spirits.

He yawned as he sat by me.

I was used to him sometimes showing up on the roof during lunch.

He's as close to a friend as I'm ever going to have.

His silence always pleased me so-

"Amulet Presentations tomorrow."

I froze.

Obviously the end of the world was at hand.

Since when did Shika ever try to make small talk?

I struggled to breathe normally.

Possibly he'd been abducted by aliens and was now-

"Aliens?"

I opened one eye.

Shit. I'd been speaking out loud.

Shika was cloud gazing and I shut my eyes again.

"You one of the many applicants?" he asked.

I snorted, "Hardly."

He smiled.

I didn't need to look to see that the smug bastard was smiling.

He found my lack of Season-worship amusing.

"You applied?"

He sniffed, "No. Too troublesome."

"Oh."

"My mom did it for me."

I laughed at that.

I'd met his mother before. She was an intimidating lady (read: a scary-as-hell battleaxe of a woman).

Shika and I had been at the same school since kindergarten and - if I were to ever fall to the sickening labels of teens - I'd say he was my BFF minus the B (Friend forever. Gag) who also happened to have a BFF (beefy fat friend), a likable guy called Chouji.

Shika and I didn't share any of our classes.

It was just as well... I find that I tire of people easily.

"Isn't it about that time?"

I sighed, "What?"

"Your Special Time."

I sat up and scowled at him.

"I hate you."

He simply blinked, being too bloody lazy to do anything else.

I grabbed my bag & bottle and left.

In the hallway, I walked until I got to a wooden door with the plaque "School Psychologist" on it.

I tapped it lightly, hoping no one would hear.

No such luck.

"Get your ass in here Uzumaki."

I sighed.

What was the point of a first name when no one ever used it?

I entered the office and stared around.

There's a black carpet on the floor, bright yellow curtains, and a large wooden desk where a brunette in a trench coat sat glaring at me.

"Anko... Hi."

I've always wondered if she bothers wearing clothes under that coat or if she just has her undies on (or if she even bothers with those).

"You're late."

"Um...I was somewhere with a group of guys; spitting, burping and talking about sports..."

"Nice try. Sit your ass down."

I sat on the comfy chair in front of her desk as I watched her.

She had the same hairstyle as always, her dark spiky hair was tied back messily.

MY spikes were let to roam free.

Honestly, whenever we stood together, people had sudden compassionate urges to buy us hairbrushes.

I've gotten tons of hair products that way.

I faced her and said, "So...how are you?"

She continued to glare.

"You know, you're glaring. That's not good for my psychological emotional inhibitions."

A slight smile seemed to overcome her and she sighed.

"You're impossible."

I nodded.

"You know why you're here."

I feigned ignorance, "I come here every day 'cause you obviously have a crush on me and I like older women."

Anko smirked, "Be that as it may, today we won't talk about your being an extrovert..."

Ah yes, I am an extrovert.

Apparently.

Her psychobabble says I'm "a person who is more interested in other people and the world around me than my own thoughts and feelings".

She made me memorize that after I kept asking her what it meant every session even though it was just to tick her off.

"So what joyous topic of mind blowing interest are we on today?"

She grinned and I knew that I'd hate her answer.

"Your Season application."

I eyed her suspiciously, "Don't have one."

"Really? Why is that?"

"I'm still fourteen."

"I know when your birthday is, idiot. You're fifteen."

Damn.

"Alright...I don't want to be a Season and it's highly unrealistic to assume there would be a chance of that happening. Besides," I added, smirking victoriously. "The deadline was Day 30 and we are way past that."

"Yes," She swung a little in her chair. "I suppose handing one in now would be pointless."

I nodded, stretching comfortably in the seat and leaning back to recline.

"It's a good thing I thought ahead and applied on your behalf..."

I gaped and sat back up.

She chuckled, "Does Naruto Uzumaki actually have nothing to say?"

Many, many colorful words come to mind...

"Oh, I have tons to say to you...but nothing that wouldn't get me expelled."

Anko nodded, pleased with herself.

"Well, glad that's sorted."

I sighed, "Well, I hope you're happy. And by the way. Chances of me becoming a Season are 6,953,567 to 1. I did the math. Let's hope you didn't make any foolish bets."

Anko looked amused, "It's my money..."

I left feeling quite happy actually.

My school didn't exactly have outstanding overachievers and with any luck, if anyone was picked from here, the logical choice was Shikamaru.

I almost whistled a happy tune as I walked.

Yes indeed, Seasons were not in my future.

I even looked forward to and enjoyed detention.

It was the only quiet time I got to myself all day.

**(I am a Hidan page break. I like poking myself with stuff.)**

Day Forty-Nine.

Great.

I must admit, I love the fact that there'll be no lessons today...but hate that I still have to go to school.

What was admin thinking?

Bloody sadists.

So here I am, in the bleachers, surrounded by loud, sweaty teens chattering away like chimps.

I inexplicably have the sudden urge to go to the zoo.

On both sides, the people are way beyond in my personal space, they have taken it for their own.

I'm tempted to throw them both down, one after the other, but really, who can blame them for wanting to be near my awesome studly-ness?

The amulets arrive today and schools everywhere are skipping classes in anticipation.

Golden boxes are to be delivered to each school.

Only four contain amulets for the chosen schools.

The rest all have a jewel of some kind.

If I were the Principal, I'd seriously hope for a diamond.

He really needs a new car.

If I had his car, I'd walk..

The band started playing a short quick tune and stopped abruptly.

I suppose that's the signal, bad though it was.

The couriers are here.

But...

I stared.

They were three of them, dressed in purple robes.

The one in the middle carried a large golden box while the other two, one on each side, held a silver box each.

The hall exploded in fresh noise and I wondered how long this was going to take.

I mean, was I supposed to cheer or something?

Tch.

Not gonna happen.

I have little tolerance for embarrassing situations- especially my own.

And _that_is why I'm not jumping, screaming, clapping or waving.

What I _am_doing is not giving a damn.

Honestly, if I had a pocket full of Damns and the pathetic power-hungry student body was hanging off a cliff and all they needed to save themselves was one Damn, I wouldn't give it to them.

Cause I just don't give a damn.

In fact, just last year, I was voted "Least Likely to have School Spirit".

Before that, I had _**no idea**_ the school had its own ghost moving through the halls and giving bits of itself to students.

But then, I was going through a bit of a rough patch last year so I guess everyone expects me to be chanting with them now...

"Hey losers!

Here's what we'll do to you...

Something fun, rhymes with truck

And something new, rhymes with poo!

Truck poo! Duck do! Puck loo! Fu-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" the Principal threatened, glaring at the student body.

Oh thank goodness.

That retarded chant always got on my nerves...and in case they didn't notice, we aren't exactly at a game with an opposing school.

We're welcoming the people who might be bringing the amulet...at least, we're supposed to be welcoming them- if they haven't left after that little display of school spirit (that darn ghost).

When the noise died down and we were politely told to take our seats, I saw that the three men were still standing.

They must like pep rallies.

Wouldn't you know it, the Principal - and a few other teachers - decided to give speeches for the occasion.

Shoot me.

I just can't catch a break.

As I zoned out for the next hour and a half, I barely noticed the rest of the population paying attention.

I looked around the large gym hall.

Parents hadn't been allowed in.

That's good. It would have been pretty packed...

Not that mine would have showed up if they were allowed in.

They-

A trumpet blew and I straightened up, looking down.

It was time to open the boxes and have over 500 students, of which 97 were 15 and thus of the required age, cry out in disappointment.

I waited patiently as the Principal walked up to the man in the middle and opened the box.

There was dead silence and for almost three minutes, he was still.

Ha. Told ya.

I couldn't see much from where I was but I really hoped it was a diamond.

I have a thing for shiny things.

The large screens the school administration had gotten for close ups of games and stuff for those who couldn't see, was only showing the Principal's face, which was expressionless.

As I was planning just how to get a chance to see the diamond up close, he lifted up what had been resting in the golden box.

The screens seemed to magically light up and what I saw amazed me.

Oh crap.

It was a Season Amulet.

Everyone marveled as the ceiling changed into different colors and suddenly, let loose a light fall of leaves.

The cheering that went up nearly knocked me off my perch.

Honestly, these people were LOUD.

The leaves fell over us, covering us in beautiful fall colors.

Now I saw it, shimmering various shades of brown, red and gold.

The Autumn Amulet.

After the noise died down...which took almost an hour, the other two boxes were opened.

I gasped.

No way.

They each had a silver wrist guard with an insignia of a leaf made from tiny jade stones.

I was awestruck.

Maybe I should explain.

Each Season has a partner, sometimes called a Host and when an amulet was presented, a wrist guard was given too, for the Host of the Season chosen.

But there had always been just one Host, with only one wristband.

Two wristbands meant the Season chosen would have two Hosts.

That was actually impressive.

Hosts are awesome in battle and usually do showcases which are kinda like publicity stunts.

Tsunade's Host is a brunette called Shizune.

She specializes in armored battles and her swordsmanship is unparalleled.

Orochimaru's is Kabuto, a medic and poison specialist.

Jiraiya's is some fierce looking guy called Ibiki, an interrogator of sorts. With his muscles and scars, I really doubt he sits spies down and offers them a cup of tea and asks sweetly, "So...what'cha up to?"

I don't know who Kakashi's is though. I've never seen or read about him having a Host.

It may seem like I give Hosts more respect than Seasons...and yeah, I do.

I have my reasons.

The ceremony was followed by securing the three boxes and their treasures and a huge blowout party, held at Magnum Hall, a place that was as huge as it was expensive...which it was. Very much so.

Guess they were feeling pretty patriotic today.

I didn't go.

Partying isn't my thing.

Unfortunately, as I was leaving the school and not boarding one of the buses headed for Magnum, I was ambushed.

Iruka stared at me, blocking my path.

I smiled sheepishly, "Hi."

"Why aren't you-"

I held up a hand, stopping him.

"I want to be alone."

After a few seconds, he nodded and let me pass, calling over his shoulder.

"If you wanna talk..."

"Thanks!" I shouted and broke off into a completely uncalled for sprint.

I ran halfway home before my legs asked my brain if it was retarded or just taking a break from thinking.

Aching and asking myself why I had run a race with myself, I got a cab to take me the rest of the way home and rushed into the two-storey house.

It was spotless.

I was used to living here alone- in this large empty house.

I found a note on the table saying my dinner was in the fridge and I should warm it up in the microwave.

It was signed 'Love Ayame'.

I smiled and ignored it.

I didn't feel like eating tonight.

There were too many thoughts running through my mind.

As I lay in bed, it occurred to me that it had been exactly six years since-

I like pie, don't ask me why-

I smiled at my ringtone as my cell phone rang and I ignored it.

I don't cry, cause I'm a guy-

The ringing stopped and I assumed they left a message instead.

Hell would freeze over and implode before I left my warm bed to check that message.

I would have thanked whoever was trying to call for getting me to stop thinking about what had happened all those years ago.

But it reminded me of something.

I hated the Seasons...

And I had every reason to.

It made me wonder how I'd react to Shikamaru if he was chosen.

Day fifty is tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I'm the only kid hoping to not get picked.

Autumn.

That pervert, Jiraiya, is coming in tomorrow.

He writes in his free time, long detailed erotic novels...not that I know anything about that sort of thing.

Heck, I still get freaked out by morning wood.

Um, anyway...

I'd have preferred to meet Tsunade and Shizune.

Wait...

What the hell am I saying?

I won't even be there for the interviews.

I yawned loudly, happy with my half-baked plan.

Skip the interview, don't get chosen.

Tch.

Easy.

**xxx-xxx**

**A/N:**** My laptop crashed & I lost everything. Gotta start from scratch.****On the plus side, my Phone stopped PMSing so I can put up beta'ed chapters.**

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	2. Choosing Autumn

**The Four seasons**

by Rizember

**-**

**Chapter Two: Choosing Autumn**

**-**

**Beta'ed by: [un-Beta'ed]**

**Sorry about the Previous terrible spacing…**

**-**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Ask the government.  
-**

Day 50.

"SHIT!"

What a lovely way to start to the day.

You know how some people think they woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Like the left side is any less correct than the right?

Well, that's a load of bollocks.

Today, I did the impossible and fell off the foot of my bed.

At least I can honestly say that I have accomplished waking up on the wrong side of the bed- and falling off it.

No idea how it happened so I'll leave that to some scientists who have nothing to do.

I had a vivid dream about a bongo-player, monkeys and some sort of boarding school.

I'm not the best interpreter of dreams but I'm pretty sure it means something important, like how I should have curry flavored ramen today.

I picked up my cellphone and ignored the voicemail flashing pointedly.

I pressed 5 and speed-dialed Shikamaru.

"Naruto."

Apparently, he does know my first name.

"Shikamaru."

"I left you a message."

"I was too busy ignoring it. Are you ready?"

He snickered and said, "Of course. I thought you'd have forgotten."

Yeah...

It had been three weeks since I'd gotten the idea as we sat on the roof sharing lunch and staring at clouds...

"I didn't get the supplies," I sighed. "We may have to abort-"

"No worries. I did it."

"You? YOU did?!"

"Don't sound so shocked."

"I'm sorry. It's just that...you've always been a lazy bastard. That was my one constant... I now have to rethink my whole life..."

"Idiot."

"Later."

Okay, falling off of beds aside, I would make this day awesome if it killed me...

**(Flashbacks are full of Vitamin A)**

I'd just escaped a half-hour lecture on the benefits of tofu (Iruka was trying to get me off ramen) and was finally indulging in peace, quiet and junkfood.

Iruka wasn't helping by telling me how bad ramen was for me.

He just made it sound hardcore (like forbidden fruit...)

Lying under the large parasol, I pondered the globally consequential question: should I walk home or take the bus?

(I decided to leave solving global warming for the next day).

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and waited.

"Nara."

"Uzumaki."

Shikamaru sat by me and opened his backpack, offering a soda.

I took it and offered some ramen, knowing he'd refuse.

He refused.

Conclusion? I'm psychic.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, except for my frequent slurping.

"I miss the rain."

I turned sharply, throwing a 'WTF?' look at Shikamaru, wondering where the hell that had come from.

He shrugged at my silent question and said, "It's been really hot."

That was true I guess.

Unfortunately for us, we both had gym class that afternoon. And as a treat to us, the air conditioning was being fixed and as such, was shut off for the day.

Someone somewhere hated us.

"Maybe we could start a small fire in the gym and set off the sprinklers."

"We'd get caught," I pointed out. "Besides, the gym doesn't have sprinklers set in for fires, just smoke detectors. The auditorium does though."

Ah, the auditorium.

The massive building set up just so students could be pleasured with speeches at award ceremonies, non-award ceremonies and oh joy, Speech day.

It even had a provisional remote-controlled mobile ceiling.

During awards ceremonies, the ceiling was closed and covered with thousands of balloons. Then, with the push of a button, it was quickly slid open and the balloons were dropped onto the

unsuspecting public.

This gave me an idea.

We all missed the rain, that much was obvious. And so, I would help everyone out.

In the unlikely event that a Season was chosen from my school, I'd make it memorable.

Shikamaru listened to the plan and shockingly, didn't tell me how troublesome it would be to accomplish.

Well, that was a first.

**(Flashbacks are lactose intolerant)**

And so, Shikamaru and I were above the auditorium, on a solid platform behind a railing with the ceiling above us. The mobile ceiling was below us.

It looked like a large rectangular pool, filled with balloons in preparation for today's celebration.

I leaned lazily onto the railing.

Being with Shikamaru could do that to you...have you accomplish feats of emphatic laziness without even trying.

"How did you do it?"

A smile crept onto his face as he watched the balloons, "Bribed first graders at a neighbouring school. The excitable little buggers were really eager to help."

"What if they squeal?"

"Who'll believe them? Besides, if they do, I'll just tell them Santa isn't real and the Toothfairy is a hoax."

"Dude, that's cold..."

As we looked at our greatest work, I said, "You're the most likely choice."

"So they say," he frowned. "But I don't want it."

I nodded.

"Anko applied on my behalf."

Shikamaru laughed, "I thought she would. She's a smart woman."

I glared at him and said, "Yes well, there are still interviews to get to."

Shika raised an eyebrow at me, "You planning on ditching?"

"Yup."

He sighed, "Wish I could."

"Your mum would kill you."

"No...she'd get my dad to do it."

I smirked.

"Why wouldn't you accept being Autumn. There'd obviously be tons of excitement...and you look like you need it."

He gave me a funny look.

"I've seen excitement and I've seen boredom. And boredom was best."

He walked away and I followed.

It wouldn't do to get caught so soon. That would just be embarrassing.

It was eight in the morning and I was pretty sure no one would be late today.

Interviews started at nine and would be done by one in the afternoon.

The Amulet would be given to the 'chosen one' at two in the afternoon.

You had to respect the school's view of destiny: perfectly coordinated and occurring at its appointed time.

Yes, they had made a program.

No speeches today (thank goodness).

Shikamaru and I split up.

Of the 97 fifteen year olds, I was to be the last, what with my last name being Uzumaki…

Because classes had been cancelled today as well, I was pretty sure the computer room would be crowded.

I made my way to the library, knowing it would be the one place no other student would be today.

"Hello Naruto."

I smiled at Iruka-sensei.

He had been reading a book and I motioned for him not to stop.

I made my way to the darkest section and turned off my cellphone.

I took various books from the shelves and started to read.

Most were about folk tales from different countries. I'm into that sort of thing...Greek and Roman gods, Japanese folklore... Sometimes they barely make any sense whatsoever but are still a

good read.

The bell rang at nine and I sighed when I saw Iruka-sensei approach me.

He sat down in the chair opposite mine and smiled, "Aren't you going for interviews?"

I shook my head, "I'm last. Uzumaki."

"Oh... So you ARE planning on going?"

Damn.

"Erm..." I sighed. "No."

"Why not?"

Honesty will be the death of me but here goes.

"Because it's idiotic."

"Ah."

No detention? Strange. Is it because I didn't tell him "I don't give a damn"?

I doubt he'd have punished me anyway. He has abit of a soft spot for me.

For as far as I can remember, Iruka has always been around.

When I was younger, I lived with him, his father and his daughter, Ayame.

I always called his father Gramps.

Iruka's wife had died while giving birth to Ayame so I never got the chance to meet her.

Gramps owns a ramen shop which he runs with Ayame who declared herself my older sister even though Iruka never adopted me.

I've always wondered about that.

He could have...if he wanted to...

Obviously, he didn't see me as much of a son.

So I guess I'm an orphan.

People become orphans because their parents died.

I became an orphan because I never knew them.

My first memories are of Iruka but for some reason, I never once assumed he was my father.

When I finally asked about my parents, Iruka told me they'd disappeared.

I didn't want to know if that was just a fancy way of saying I'd been abandoned so I didn't ask.

I didn't ask why he kept me.

I didn't ask why he'd let me live with him till I was 13...

I didn't ask why he'd never adopted me.

I suppose I was afraid of the answers...so I didn't ask because I didn't want to know.

When I turned 13, a lawyer showed up at Iruka's house. After three hours, during which I heard Iruka curse for the first time in my life, he left.

Iruka sat me down and told me the most bogus story I'd ever heard.

My parents had left me a home and tons of money and I was very lucky.

I had just inherited everything.

I assumed I was supposed to be happy or something, so I'd smiled.

Then he told me I couldn't live with him anymore.

I'd continued smiling but I think my face had just gone on strike or something.

Apparently, I had an unknown guardian now.

They hired help to take care of the mansion I found myself owning.

I went over to Iruka's as much as I could, occasionally spending nights in my old room.

But then, he started distancing himself from me...

It wasn't obvious at first.

He would bring food over with Ayame and Gramps so I wouldn't have the chance to stay over at his house.

He'd drive me home from school.

He'd tell me how blessed I was to have had such loving parents and how he hoped I appreciated everything.

That was when I stopped going over.

I visited Ayame and Gramps at the store sometimes but I'd completely cut myself off from Iruka.

If he noticed, he didn't seem particularly upset about it.

Sure, he sometimes worried about my wellbeing but that's just an adult reflex to children eating junkfood.

"...right?"

I stared at Iruka.

Apparently he'd been talking to me.

He sighed, "Were you even listening to me?"

'Lie. Lie! Say yes! Maybe he'll go away...'

"Uh...no?"

Damn!

I made a mental note to practice lying to people more and waited for my reprimand.

But Iruka just stood and said, "I'll let you know when you're up."

I nodded, figuring I'd have a hiding place set by the time it was my turn.

By noon, Iruka had stopped by nearly twenty times to make sure I wasn't going to run off.

Tch..

You'd think he didn't trust me or something.

Anyway, on a completely unrelated matter, my plan to skip the interview was all set.

In full view of Iruka, I went to the bathroom.

In there, I quickly went into a stall and thanked the heavens for my lithe body.

I stared at the window and it seemed to have a heavenly glowing light around it.

I smiled, "Hello freedom."

I slid it up and open and eased myself out of it, stepping onto a protruding pipe to keep me from falling prematurely.

I quickly scanned the area, making sure there was no one in sight.

For a second, I thought I saw a shadow right around the corner but a second later, it was gone.

I decided to ignore it and looked down at the grass-covered ground below.

It was a pretty high drop but nothing that would kill me, unless I decided to try fall in style.

I jumped down, lacking all possible grace, and landed with an "Oomph!"

Making sure all my body parts were functional, I immediately made my way around the building.

I had it all figured out.

If Iruka and Anko wanted to look for me, they would look in the last place they'd think I'd expect them to look: the girls bathroom or the airvents- places I wouldn't expect them to check.

I decided to try abit of reverse psychology and figured they expected me to be in hiding.

Which was why I headed to the auditorium.

It was packed with students and the fifteen year olds who were already done with their interviews.

I entered the noisy hall and went up the bleachers, finding a seat and soon being surrounded by babbling girls.

I resisted the urge to kill myself as they started a conversation about some 'awesome' lip gloss.

Leaning back in my seat, I smiled to myself.

I was hiding in plain sight.

And there was no way in hell I'd attend that interview.

**(I am an emo page break, nobody loves me)**

Nearly two hours had gone by without a hitch. I'd been reading a novel, 'Wuthering Heights' wondering several important things:

(1) what the heck is 'wuthering'?

(2) why did Emily Brönte have to be _so _descriptive?

And,

(3) why did I care how descriptive she was when I just ended up skipping the descriptions altogether?

Yes, my brain is truly a wonder to behold.

As the clock was nearing two, the teachers and remaining students started to trickle in.

I saw Anko come in and sank further into my seat.

She looked furious.

Iruka soon followed, looking confused and disappointed..

I really hoped they were upset about the cafeteria food and not me.

Fat chance.

For the past week, the cooks had actually been making an effort to...well...cook, instead of their usual practice of providing the school with burnt offerings (on good days) and various kinds of

edible mud.

Shikamaru came in and looked up, somehow spotting me immediately (maybe it's the spiky blonde hair...) and hiding a smirk.

He didn't hide it too well.

He came up and sat a short distance away from me where he could see me twitching cause the girl topic had now changed to hottest movie star dudes.

Damn it, don't any of these girls watch sport or something?

Can't one of them amaze me and go, "Did you watch the game yesterday? The ref was a total prat! The midfielder was not off-side!"

To me, finding a girl who understands the offside rule is on par with finding the lost city of Atlantis..

The Principal walked up to the microphone and cleared his throat into it.

I raised an eyebrow at that. If he needed a lozenge, he should have just asked.

It seemed like everyone was here.

Everyone except Autumn.

I found that strange but was not overly concerned. Heck, I wasn't even **underly **concerned.

If I'd wanted to meet him, I'd have shown up at the interviews.

"Good afternoon everyone."

The students answered accordingly and I contemplated taking a nap like Shikamaru was presently doing.

He was sitting upright with his eyes closed.

My theory is that Shikamaru grew up with a pack of tortoises- kind of like a super-boring version of the Jungle Book.

When he was brought to human civilization, he stayed true to the Way of the Tortoise and perfected it into modern day life...a life we people refer to as "a bloody lazy one".

"I know you're all excited about today's event," the Principal continued.

I scoffed.

"The results are in..."

Ah yes...the clichéd pause for dramatic effect.

It seemed to have worked.

It was suddenly really quiet.

"We have a tie!"

I grinned.

Nice.

Never had one of those before.

"Nara Shikamaru!"

For the first time, I cheered with the rest of them, laughing when I saw Shikamaru was now definitely awake.

His shocked expression was shown on the big screen.

Ha!

This was awesome.

"And Uzumaki Naruto!"

It's strange. I could have sworn he'd just said my name.

"Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto, please come down!"

There it was again.

Maybe there was a mistaken echo playing in my head cause obviously he COULDN'T have just said my name.

Hell, I skillfully avoided the interviews.

How the hell did I get picked?! And a tie? What were we gonna do, take half the season?

My shock far outweighed Shika's and my butt decided to stay put right where it was.

Unfortunately for me, Anko (that evil, evil woman) somehow found herself by my side and helpfully led me down by my ear.

Shikamaru was already there and even as I approached, my awesome lip-reading skills made out the words "Troublesome" coming from him.

I agree completely.

In the distance, his large friend, Chouji, was waving as he happily munched on a large bag of potato chips.

"This tie called for last minute votes among the Seasons themselves in a conference call and so...your Autumn is now..."

Time for some influential mind control:

'Shikamaru, Shikamaru, Shikamaru...'

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

I blinked.

"Aw, crap."

So much for mind control.

"Congratulations!"

I could've **sworn **I heard him say "My condolences."

That would have been spot on.

Looking at my friend for some sort of comfort, I was readily disappointed.

"It could be worse," Shikamaru said by way of consolation. "It could be me."

I glared murderously at him and he smiled as Anko shoved me forward (darn woman).

I stepped reluctantly up to the Principal and the amulet was placed over my head and let to hang from my neck. If I wasn't in the highest possible level of shock, I'd have quivered at how

pervy that was.

The Principal grinned and shook my hand before I stepped back.

"And now, your first host...Nara Shikamaru!"

I snorted as Shika's face fell.

"Ha!"

He glared at me like it was my fault somehow. And you know what? I wish it was.

The wrist guard was opened and closed onto his arm, its silver shining brightly. The Principal shook his hand as well, and told him what an honor it was for him to be chosen.

Bull.

It was at this point in time that the Principal turned a sad gaze to the students as they waited eagerly to know the second Autumn host.

"The second host has been chosen from a neighbouring school."

The uproar was immediate.

Shikamaru and I shared a look and stared at the scene before us.

Students were screaming in outrage.

If the seats were removable, I was sure they'd be throwing them down.

Infact, I can see one skinny guy trying to detach his seat in a masculine fit of anger.

Poor fella.

"CALM DOWN OR YOU WILL ALL BE DETAINED!"

It's amazing what the fear of detention can do and I've always marveled at how I lacked the necessary reverence of the detention hall. Hell, with all the time I spent there, it was like my

second home.

"Let us all congratulate our Season and his host!"

They students clapped loudly, cheering with enthusiasm even though I knew some were disappointed and the rest wanted to kill the kid from the other school.

I could relate somewhat.

Why would the two wrist guards have been sent here in the first place, if the person is from another school?

Shikamaru motioned to me and his eyes slid up to the roof.

I grinned.

The Principal pushed the button and the ceiling opened, dropping its load of balloons.

Balloons Shikamaru had enticed first graders to fill with water.

I must admit my school is really of one spirit...I mean, their collective gasp at being hit with thousands of balloons filled with ice cold water... It was remarkable.

Even though Shikamaru and I suffered the watery onslaught as well, it was well worth it.

Besides, now no one would think we did it.

As I watched the after-effects, I desperately wished I had a video camera.

The Principal was frozen with his hand still on the button.

Basically, the whole school looked pretty funny.

They all had this deer-caught-in-headlamp look and were soaked through.

It was bloody _**awesome**_.

"WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?!" the Principal bellowed.

Unfortunately for him, the microphone wasn't waterproof and so his shout was kind of low and overall...a tad bit disappointing.

Beside me, Anko started laughing...and then, a student in the audience did too....pretty soon, everyone was laughing their wet little asses off and the Principal had to hide the smile that had

been trying to creep onto his face.

He didn't hide it very well. Must be related to Shika.

"The Pavilion is having a celebration this evening in honour of Autumn and his hosts. You are all welcome!"

Great.

Barely five minutes as a Season and my identity has already been forgotten.

I am **NOT **_bloody _**Autumn**.

I am Uzumaki Naruto.

And I **_refuse _**the Autumn Title.

Anko took Shikamaru and I away and herded us toward the gym.

"Naruto. You didn't show up for your interview."

I scowled at her, knowing she was mocking me.

"No. I didn't."

She smiled.

"Let's have you meet your predecessor."

I sighed and followed as she opened the doors and we walked in.

This was where the interviews had been held, I was sure of it.

Call it intuition, call it a sixth sense...or you could call it my awesome powers of observation that let me 'observe' the table in the middle of the room with two chairs on one side and one

opposite them.

Also, maybe I figured it out from the fact that Jiraiya and Ibiki were in the two chairs.

Jiraiya, Autumn, was an esteemed pervert with long white hair and dark eyes. He had strange marks on his face and was in...clothing of some kind. A hobo somewhere was missing his coat.

Next to him was Ibiki. I gulped as his eyes fell on me.

His face was hard and expressionless. I was tempted to bolt.

Anko apparently, was psychic too and threw me forward.

Catching myself before I fell, I turned and swore loudly, glaring at her.

"You didn't show up for your interview."

I turned abruptly and found myself staring at the white haired Season, wondering why his voice and eyes were so cold.

I glared indignantly back at him, "No, I didn't."

He nodded slightly.

"I'm a busy man, Naruto. When I decide to bother coming to this interview, the least you could do is show up."

"Well, I decided not to bother."

Anko groaned in obvious frustration at my lack of respect.

"I figured we both had stuff to do anyway so I saved you a good ten minutes."

Jiraiya said nothing.

I sighed, "Why did you choose me?"

Jiraiya's face suddenly broke out in a wide grin.

"I like you."

"I'm straight."

He laughed.

Okay...a minute ago he was like the godfather and now, he's... laughing.

He is so bipolar.

"Ibiki watched you escape the library."

Ibiki?

The shadow!

Damn.

"Why were you watching me?"

"Well," Jiraiya smiled. "I was curious about the only student in the world who is reluctant to become a Season."

"I'm not reluctant. I just don't want to."

Jiraiya spun a pencil on the desk.

"You were also responsible for the water balloons."

How the heck did he know?

Well, it wasn't a National secret.

Probably that Ibiki dude.

Barely a Season and I already had my very own Stalker. It isn't as flattering as I thought it'd be....

If I didn't admit the balloon sabotage, he might blame Shikamaru.

"Yes."

He nodded.

"We will leave at dawn."

I snorted, "Like hell we will!"

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"What?"

"I do not want to be a Season! I refuse to be one!"

"Shut up and be happy," he ordered.

I blinked.

"I bed your pardon?"

"Beg all you want, no backing out now."

I glared at Anko.

"A parent or guardian's approval is necessary."

Anko's smile faltered.

"Well a parent or guardian is also required for you to say no."

"I have none."

"I stand in as his guardian."

I turned and stared, then smiled.

Iruka was standing behind me.

Iruka knew I didn't want to be a Season.

"Do you accept Iruka as your guardian in this matter?" Jiraiya asked.

I nodded.

"Yes."

Iruka smiled and stepped forward.

That's it Iruka! Tell these fools no...in fact, add alittle something extra and say tell them to shove his amulet up his-

"Yes."

…

What the hell?

…

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"He said 'yes'." Anko smirked.

I swore loudly and took off the amulet, throwing it to the ground.

"I'll not come willingly. Choose someone else."

With that, I stormed off, ignoring Shikamaru's quiet mumble of "Troublesome".

I went straight home and found Mari, the maid just about to leave.

I smiled at her, "Hello."

She smiled and hugged me, "Naruto! I never see you these days. How's school?"

"It's alright Mari."

Mari nodded, "I left your dinner in the fridge. You had better eat the vegetables too."

I nodded as she gave me a look that told me I'd be in deep shit if I didn't.

The others had already left.

I ate my dinner, locked up the house and went to bed.

My backpack was probably with Iruka but I was mad at him.

What the hell was their problem anyway?

I had a restless night but somewhere along the line, I fell into a dead, dreamless sleep.

**(I'm a convict page break, stripes make me look fat)**

My bed was moving for some reason.

I groaned and opened an eye.

Then I screamed.

Like a little girl.

"Bloody hell Anko! What are you doing in my room?!"

The evil trenchcoat lady just grinned at me.

"I'm not in your room."

I looked around with slowly dawning realization.

I was on a bed...in a tour bus.

"Oh hell no."

She sighed, "You said you wouldn't come willingly."

I looked out a window and scowled.

"You kidnapped me?!"

"Kidnapped is a strong word..."

I gaped.

Anko smirked, "Relax kid, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel."

And she was right.

At the end of the tunnel was a faulty lightbulb.

I found Jiraiya and Shikamaru at the front of the bus.

Ibiki was driving.

Shikamaru nodded at me in acknowledgement.

I frowned.

Jiraiya smiled widely, an issue of this month's Playboy in his hands.

"Good morning."

I glared at him spitefully, "I hate you."

"Excellent! We're all friends."

"Take me back."

"Can't. Everythings sorted. Clothes and stuff will be provided when we get to Suna."

"Suna?"

"Yes. One of the Season Estates."

"Of course," I rolled my eyes. "But...school, my friends, my cellphone..."

"No need for them. You'll be schooled in Suna, you'll make new friends and I accidentally crushed your phone when we were leaving."

Shikamaru's speed was surprising as he held me back while I tried to strangle Jiraiya.

"I'll kill you!"

"Naruto calm down!" Shika ordered.

I took in a deep breath and settled for concentrating the darkest glare I could at the old fart.

"I'll get you a new one," he said, turning back to look at Miss November.

"You'd better."

Shikamaru looked back out the windscreen at the open highway.

Ibiki hadn't even stepped forward to help Jiraiya. I guess he assumed I couldn't hurt him...yet.

I sat next to Shika and looked out the window. Ours was the only car on the road.

"Iruka said goodbye... and that he'll come visit soon," Shika stated.

"Maybe if I hadn't been abducted, I'd have said goodbye myself."

"Maybe."

"Dude you suck."

I noted that we were on the main road, Great East Road, a way I'd used many times on school trips.

We suddenly took a turn at a road I'd never seen before.

Shikamaru looked about us strangely and I knew he was thinking the same.

We'd been driving for nearly an hour and Anko was taking a nap.

I was curious as to why Anko was with us anyway but decided she'd tell me herself soon enough.

"Shit."

It was rare for Shika to swear and I looked at ahead.

In front of us, the road abruptly ended.

There was a row of trees so close together it looked like a barricade of nature.

We were headed straight for them.

"What the hell?!" Shika turned to Ibiki, starting to panic. "Trees up ahead! ARE YOU BLIND?!"

Ibiki grunted in answer.

In a few seconds, we would hit them.

The trees were getting closer and as my life flashed before my eyes, I realized something:

All my life, ramen had been my only vice and my only true friend.

As this occurred to me, all I could think about was that, so far, I'd led a pretty awesome life.

And I really, really wanted it to continue...

-

**A/N: hey.  
Sorry if this chapter kinda sucked.  
I'm super psyched at the response. I got TONS of alerts & faves & reviews.  
Thanks for the support, I'm glad you guys like it (though there ARE more alerts than reviews but...eh… *still bouncing happily*)  
I plan to update weekly but uni is back on starting Monday so I may start updating every two weeks.  
Love ya,  
Riz**


	3. Suna: Part One: Seasons and Hosts

**The Four Seasons  
by Rizember**

**Suna Part One: Seasons and Hosts**

**-**  
**A/N: to clear up a few things: I live in ZAMBIA which is a country in Southern Africa (if you have a map, it's like two countries away from S.A.)  
We DO NOT refer to seasons here as: Autumn, Winter...blah. We have hot, cold, warm, windy & rain seasons (LOL, tragic I know). Our seasons are opposite those of the northern hemisphere (like how it rains in December, which is part of our "summer") but I'll try. **

**Disclaimer: I like pie.  
**-

Previously:

_In front of us, the road abruptly ended._

_There was a row of trees so close together it looked like a barricade of nature._

_We were headed straight for them._

_"What the hell?!" Shika turned to Ibiki, starting to panic. "Trees up ahead! ARE YOU BLIND?!"_

_Ibiki grunted in answer._

_In a few seconds, we would hit them._

_The trees were getting closer and as my life flashed before my eyes, I realized something:_

_All my life, ramen had been my only vice and my only true friend._

_As this occurred to me, all I could think about was that, so far, I'd led a pretty awesome life._

_And I really, really wanted it to continue..._

-

The trees were now just _**microseconds **_away...

Don't ask how I took note of that.

I believe that my brain, realizing it didn't have much time to prove itself given the circumstances (me dying soon), had apparently decided to show

me just how smart I was by approximating the time of my death.

Lovely things, brains. Helping you without your permission.

I made a mental note to use it less often if I survived.

I didn't understand what had happened as, instead of closing my eyes and waiting for impact, they were wide open as if waiting to SEE what would

happen next.

I _swear _someone would think my body **wanted** me to die.

I on th eother hand, wanted to jump out and save myself...maybe come back later after the crash and try help the others, if they were still alive.

But it was too late.

We hit the tree barricade and-

And...

Nothing.

I stared. As did Shikamaru.

Jiraiya wasn't even paying attention, he was looking at Miss July, upside down.

I made a quick check of my underwear status: **COMPLETELY DRY**, thankyou very much, and noticed that we were still on a road.

But in the distance, what hadn't been there seconds ago, was a mountain.

Not a hill. Not a mound of grass.

A freaking **mountain **that went as high as the clouds and disappeared somewhere up there.

It was bloody **huge**.

That had definitely _not_ been there a few seconds ago.

I tried to turn and look out the side mirror but something was restricting my movement.

Looking down, I saw a pair of arms around me. My eyes followed them up to their relieved-looking owner.

"Um...Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru blinked.

I cleared my throat, "Uh...you're..._holding_ me..."

Blushing lightly, he removed himself from my personal space and settled back into his seat.

It was one of those things we silently swore, through the power of friendship-induced **psychic **abilities, to **_never_** bring up again.

"Teehee...you guys **_hugged_**."

We both turned and glared at Jiraiya, who was wearing a smirk, regarding us brightly.

"Where are we going?" Shika asked in a valiant effort to change the subject.

Jiraiya suddenly sobered and said, "Well, as you can see...this is Mount Suna. It's one of our estates."

My jaw dropped, "I'm sorry...you guys own a MOUNTAIN?"

Jiraiya shrugged, like it was perfectly natural for someone to own a mountain. I wondered if maybe it was...there's a waterfall I've had my eye on for

quite some time... There's a picture of it in my room.

Back in my house.

It then dawned on me the kind of situation I was currently in.

Unless the Seasons let me go themselves, I'd be stuck here.

If I went back home without their say-so, the whole world would tell of the ungrateful kid who rejected the chance of a lifetime.

"Great. Kidnapped, abducted, spirited away..." I glared at Jiraiya (glaring at him was becoming quite the hobby). "Aren't you even worried about the

police?!"

"No," he said. "I think they're able to take care of themselves."

Shika found that amusing and I thumped him on the arm.

We had now begun to climb up the mountain road, the tour bus gaining speed as we went.

That was when I saw it.

A massive fortress I hadn't noticed before.

Of course, it helped that out of the blue, a gap had appeared in the clouds sending bright rays of sunshine onto the place specifically...and I thought

I heard 'the sound of music' playing in the background...

Strange.

We passed a few mountain goats and continued higher, towards the fortress.

It was now easier to see, to take in specific details.

The high walls were painted white, with what I assumed to be gold symbols on the walls, in repeating succession of the seasons: a sun, a leaf, a

snowflake and a teardrop.

Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring.

I wondered why the symbol for Spring looked like a teardrop.

That didn't make any sense...unless it was a drop of water...

But it rarely rained in springtime.

Jiraiya put his book away as the massive gates drew closer.

Ibiki slowed down to a halt and we waited.

Jiraiya sighed and motioned for me to move closer.

_Reluctantly_, I did.

"Open the gates."

I snorted, "I am _so_ not your butler."

"Use the amulet."

I glowered.

"How?"

He sighed.

"Hold it up."

I took the amulet that was hanging from my neck, briefly speculating how it got there when I'd thrown it at them just yesterday (My first guess was hired leprechauns. They like shiny things) and held it up.

"Now what?"

"Say 'Oh powerful amulet of Awesome Autumn, open the Suna gates'."

I stared at him and plopped back down into my chair, pulling his magazine over my face.

He growled, "Well?"

I shook my head.

"There's no way in hell I'm saying that."

"But we have to get inside!"

"I'd rather stay out here then, **not** embarassing myself, thanks."

Jiraiya scowled and grabbed his Playboy back.

"Naruto-"

"Why can't Shika do it? Better yet, why can't _you_?"

"Autumn has to do it."

"You _are_ Autumn you senile old fart," I muttered.

"DON'T CALL ME AN OLD FART, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"What's going on here?"

Shikamaru and Ibiki both turned to Anko, who was stretching tiredly.

Jiraiya paid her no mind. "-UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-"

Shika sighed, "Naruto won't say 'Oh powerful amulet of Awesome Autumn, open the Suna gates'."

Anko stared.

"And why the hell would he say THAT?"

"-you _unsanitary,_ supperannuated-" I was on a role.

"Jiraiya said it's necessary to open the gates," Shika stated dryly.

"-TINY LITTLE UNCOUTH _NAIVE_ LITTLE-"

"You said 'little' twice," I smirked.

"WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP!?" Anko shouted at Jiraiya and me, annoyed.

Not like we were listening.

"Uneducated old pervert."

"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I WENT TO A TOP UNIVERSITY!" Jiraiya shouted.

I snorted, "As what, the Janitor?"

Ibiki calmly held Jiraiya back as he reached for my throat and fell short.

It amused me that I could vex Jiraiya so easily.

I noticed that both Ibiki and Shikamaru have a lazy aura about them.

Ibiki let Jiraiya go and the old perv took in a deep breath before he smiled at me, "We're going to get along just fine."

He is _definitely_ bipolar.

Anko mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'idiots' and stuck out her head and shouted, "Open the bloody gates!"

The gates were immediately opened and Ibiki drove in, Jiraiya looking sheepish as I glared at him.

I stopped mid-glare as my jaw completely succumbed to gravity. I think Shikamaru's may have just melted away.

"Welcome to The Suna Palace."

Welcome indeed.

It was beautiful.

Fresh, neatly cut lawns.

Rows and rows of fruit trees- one giant orchard.

Two guard houses as well as Guard posts on the walls that weren't noticeable from outside.

But most impressive...was the palace itself. Cause that's what it was.

I looked up at it as we neared the building, thinking I'd have to take my head off and lift it so I'd get a better view.

It was a magnificent white castle.

I wondered if there was a glare everytime the sun shined on its walls.

The bus stopped and Shikamaru and me rushed to get off.

It was probably the only kind of exercise Shikamaru had ever done.

"Wow."

Shika just nodded.

In the large, clean car park to the side, we saw three other buses like ours in blue, yellow and white.

The Autumn bus I'd been abducted in was brown.

On the grounds were tons of people in black and white outfits, trimming hedges, mowing the perfect lawn, collecting baskets of fruit...

It looked pretty busy.

Jiraiya and Anko debussed, followed by Ibiki who immediately walked away, toward the distant corner of the castle.

Jiraiya cleared his throat and said somberly, "You'll be shown to your rooms in a few minutes. Formal clothes will be set out for you to wear to

breakfast."

"Formal?" Shika asked tiredly.

The white haired Season nodded.

"A _formal_ breakfast," Anko rolled her eyes. "Yup. This place still sucks."

I stared at her.

"You've been here before?"

Anko nodded but didn't elaborate.

"Lookie here," Anko said warily. "You'll meet your primary host at bre-"

"Primary host?"

Anko sighed, "It'll be explained at breakfast. Anyway, get ready and you'll be shown to the breakfast hall. There, hosts and Seasons will be

introduced."

I cocked an eyebrow up at her.

"Um...I still don't **want **to be a Season."

Jiraiya seemed to snap out of whatever it was and he looked at me, amused.

"I knew someone like that. They despised being chosen."

"And?" I prompted hopefully.

"She's stuck with us."

"_She_?"

"Yeah. You'll be introduced at breakfast."

"Yay."

Ibiki suddenly appeared again and looked me and Shika up and down before telling us to follow him.

We did, going up the stairs leading to twin oak doors.

Ibiki shoved them open and strode inside.

We followed and I stared.

I figured I'd be doing a whole lot of staring.

If it looked beautiful outside, it was **GORGEOUS** inside.

White and gold was everywhere.

We were in the entrance hall.

There was a staircase with colourful paintings floating in mid-air as we passed them sorta freaked me out a little but I recovered enough to note

that Ibiki had turned left and stopped at another pair of large wooden doors.

"This whole side of Suna that you've just been in is called **Year**."

"_Year_?"

"Yes," Ibiki sighed, pushing passed the doors and entering a rather long hallway.

We walked briskly, trying to keep up with Ibiki until we reached yet **another** pair of doors.

Above this pair of doors, though, was the Autumn insignia.

A golden leaf.

"What's with all the doors?" Shika whispered.

"I think they're for all the keys," I whispered back, smirking.

He shot me a lazy glare which didn't last long.

"This is Autumn's Wing."

He pushed open the doors and we gaped.

There were leaves **everywhere**.

Gold, green, brown, yellow...all _floating_!

No, not really floating...they were drifting through the air, as if being swept by a constant breeze.

Looking through the leaves, I saw we were in another hallway but this one had doors to either side of it.

One door to my left read, "Jiraiya" on a plaque.

We followed Ibiki again as he started walking, the leaves brushing against us momentarily, as if in welcome.

Halfway through the hall, he stopped at a door.

Above the door to the right was a plaque that read " Shikamaru".

Apparently, we were expected.

Shika went in, moving past Ibiki.

I took a glance into his room and whistled.

It wasn't a room.

It was a suite. And a bloody classy one at that.

Before I could study it more, Ibiki shut the door and motioned for me to follow him.

We walked for a good ten minutes and I took into account how big this place was.

We neared the end of the hall, where there was just one door opposite a window.

The only window in the whole hallway. I found it strange that it should be there. Especially when there should have been a room there as well.

"Your suite."

I turned.

"Naruto," I read. "Nice."

Ibiki nodded and said, "The person who was supposed to show you your rooms is somewhere being an idiot but they'll probably be here to get you

for breakfast if they know what's good for them. Also, keep in mind that if you're here as Autumn, you are not allowed in the wings of the other

Seasons."

I was going to ask why not when he abruptly turned away and walked back the way we'd come.

Sighing, I opened the door and entered the suite, shutting the door behind me.

There were no leaves in the room, which I took for the lounge. It had more sofas than I'd need and actually had a flat-screen TV, music system and-

_**AN X-BOX**_!

I smiled.

Being a Season might just be enjoyable...

Wait, no! What am I thinking?!

I huffed in annoyance with myself and decided to look around.

Across the room, the curtains were drawn but I liked the dim lighting. There were threes doors, two to my left and one to my right.

Taking the door to my right first, I found it was a small kitchen. Stove, fridge, counter, chairs... All in black and silver.

I left, going back into the lounge.

I then went through the opening that had been to my left when I'd entered but was right across the kitchen.

It was a game room with arcade style machines, a pool table and a foosball table.

I suddenly got the feeling they were trying to buy my soul.

I left and took the last door.

"_Whoa_."

It was a bedroom.

The king sized bed had a ring of leaves in the air above it, moving in a circular motion that I was sure would put me to sleep if I watched them for

long enough.

That was obviously their purpose.

The beddings and pillows were gold and the wallpaper had what appeared to be an Autumn theme.

The curtains were drawn and through the windows, I could see a balcony and a section of the grounds I hadn't seen earlier.

It had many trees and looked like a small, well spaced forest.

There was two doors, both a short distance from either side of the bed.

I went through the left one and found the bathroom, fully stocked with shower, Tub, toilet and a jacuuzi.

Fresh towers were on the counter below the medicine cabinet and a bar of soap was placed above them.

A comfy looking bathrobe was hanging next to the shower with fuzzy slippers just below it.

In the medicine cabinet, I found an unwrapped toothbrush and toothpaste.

I took the toothbrush, tearing it's casing and started to brush my teeth.

That done, I went back into the room and walked to the front door, locking it.

I then went to the other door in my bedroom.

It was a walk-in closet.

Full of clothes.

And shoes. Sneakers mostly... my favourite.

This has got to be the weirdest day of my life.

I went back into the bathroom, shut the door and took a long, hot shower.

Wrapping a towel around myself and grabbing an extra towel, I went into the bedroom in the fuzzy slippers, having ignored the soft but girlie

bathrobe.

"Hello."

I screamed.

In a very **manly** manner this time.

"I'm Yuukimaru."

I blinked.

There was a boy in my room.

And he was talking to me.

He was about a year younger and had light brown hair, purple eyes and a scar down his left cheek.

He was wearing a plain black tshirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

He also wore a bored expression.

"Are you related to Shikamaru?"

"What?"

I sighed, "Nothing. Why are you in here?I locked the door."

"I have a key. I'm to show you to the dining hall when you're ready. The maid is somewhere being an idiot so I had to do it. Your clothes are on the

bed."

I'll admit. He was creeping me out.

I looked at the bed and there was a freaking tuxedo on it!

"Hell no."

Yuukimaru sighed, "Just wear it and we can leave."

Frowning, I nodded and told him to wait in the lounge.

He left immediately and I scowled at the tux.

Grudgingly, I put it on and allowed a slight smile when I noticed a pair of white sneakers and socks on the floor.

I put them on and went into the lounge.

Yuukimaru looked me over, giving the vague impression he was checking me out.

Holding out the amulet for me to wear, he sighed. "How **old **are you?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "Why?"

He went into my room, came back with a towel and dried my hair, with me looking sheepish after.

I muttered a thanks and let him remove the bow tie from my neck and do undo the buttons of my jacket and my shirt, feeling slightly weird that this

stranger was dressing me.

I guess it helped that he looked so neutral in doing all this that I felt kind of silly for being weird about it.

I must admit I felt alot more comfortable when he was through.

"Were you told to let me wear sneakers?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I wasn't told _not_ to."

I smiled.

He and I would get along just fine.

"Should we pick up Shikamaru?"

"He's already been attended to."

I shrugged and followed him out.

**(I am a page break. I like pie)**

Yuukimaru lead me down the hallway I'd come through with Ibiki and Shikamaru.

We then went into Year and down the stairs.

I followed him up to another doorway with the autumn insignia and he left, telling me to enter when the doors opened.

I must say this was turning out to be an odd day.

I just wanted to know who I had to see to get back home and denounce my Seasonship.

I swore to myself that no amount of X-Boxes, PSPs, PS3s, or even **_PSZs_** would make me stay...

I just hoped they'd let me take them with me when I left.

As I was wondering how exactly I'd manage to steal a whole arcade without looking conspicuous, the doors in front of me creaked and slowly

started to open.

If there wasn't so much light, I'd have assumed this was the part in the horror movie where the blonde dies.

I hate movies like that.

When the doors were fully open, I saw it was a large room, like every other room in this place. Briefly wondering if giants previously roamed this

particular land, I went in, eyes on the stacks of food on the super long dining table.

That was when I saw them.

Three other people, coming from three other doors.

There was a girl to my right, in a black dress and heels, with shocking pink hair done up.

From what I could make out, she was wearing the summer amulet.

Across me, was a dark haired girl dressed like the Summer chick in black. Our eyes met and she smiled shyly. I smiled back and noticed her amulet.

Spring.

Finally, I turned to my left and looked at who was obviously Winter.

He was dressed like me: open jacket with the snowflake amulet showing. He was deathly pale and I wondered if I should push him into the sunlight

and see if he sparkled.

I'm not sure about my views on mythical creatures but it's my humble opinion that blood-sucking monsters really **shouldn't** sparkle in the sun.

I mean, if I were to shout at one: "Hey vampire! You're an evil monster!"

I wouldn't expect their retort to be: "Whatever dude. I'm shiny."

If this keeps up, maybe the dementors in Harry Potter will start wearing frilly flower print dresses as they try to swoop down and look menacing. (1)

The Winter boy's eyes met mine and I was sure no one would ever suit Winter as much as he did.

He was glaring at me for some reason, well...it was either that or he was trying to shoot death beams out his eyes. I turned away from him, deciding

to deal with him later.

None of us talked.

We just stood behind our chairs, or what we assumed to be our chairs, and waited.

"Hello everyone."

We all turned sharply to the voice, which was behind me.

Jiraiya came in, closely followed by Tsunade and Orochimaru who I knew from videos, pictures and books.

They each moved to stand near their successor, except for the Spring girl.

Orochimaru had always given me the creeps.

As he passed by, I realized he was even creepier in person.

He had snake like eyes and long dark hair.

I assumed there may have been a time when he looked good...a long, **long** time ago...like back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

The Seasons were dressed like us, Jiraiya and Orochimaru in tuxedos and Tsunade in a black dress.

"Kakashi will be here as soon as his lazy ass realizes we're gonna beat the shit out of him if he doesn't get here in the next three seconds," Jiraiya

said, ignoring Tsunade and Orochimaru's glares.

3...

2...

Right on cue, a silver haired man slid passed the door, crashed into something and a second later, popped his head through the Autumn doors and

said, "Yo."

He had a scarf tied artfully over most of his face, leaving only one visible eye.

I wondered if he harboured dreams of his childhood and maybe wanted to be a pirate or something.

Apparently, no one knew what his face looked like. Artists had given their own impressions from the way his mask moulded with his face but you

couldn't really trust them.

Some people think he hides his face cause he acts as a spy while think he must be really ugly (cause, why hide your face if you're gorgeous?) and

others think he must have horrible scars or something, like maybe plastic surgery gone wrong.

I don't think any of those things.

I think he's just weird.

Notice I didn't use 'eccentric'.

"Get your ass in here Kakashi," Tsunade said threateningly.

Kakashi, in jeans and a tshirt, nodded and walked toward the Spring chick.

Tsunade sighed tiredly, "Please excuse him. He's an idiot and it's hard to cure."

"There's a cure!?"

I smiled.

Kakashi seemed like my kinda guy.

He was in sneakers as well and had a small orange book in his hands.

When he stood next to the dark haired girl, he pulled up his book and started reading it.

"Anyway," Tsunade cleared her throat and smiled down at Pinky.

"I'm Tsunade Sannin. Former Summer. This-" She put her hand on the pink haired girl who smiled brightly at her. "-is Sakura Haruno. My successor."

Kakashi then stepped forward, still reading the little book, "Kakashi Hatake. I'm still young so call me Kakashi. I'm the former Spring. The beautiful

young lady next to me is Hinata Hyuuga, my successor."  
Hinata raised her head and I then noticed her eyes were a pale lavender.

She seemed amused by Kakashi and smiled slightly.

"I am Orochimaru," The snakey guy said loudly. "My successor, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke looked up and I figured this should be the part where dramatic music starts playing in the background.

"Call me Jiraiya," The old guy next to me said pleasantly. "My successor, Uzumaki Naruto."

"No."

When all eyes widened at me, I realized I'd spoken out loud.

"No?" Orochimaru asked in a mocking tone.

I swallowed.

Might as well denounce the title now.

"No," I repeated.

"No, you're **not** his successor?"

I sighed, "I don't want to be a Season."

Tsunade looked slightly worried at that.

"Why the hell not?"

I shrugged.

"Why the hell should I?"

Suddenly, I was clapped on the back.

I glared up at Jiraiya, "What the hell?!"

He grinned widely, "You're stubborn and thickheaded."

Orochimaru chuckled, "The perfect Autumn."

Okay, this was going nowwhere.

"I said I **DON'T** want to be a **BLOODY **season."

"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked, a smirk now on her face.

"OF COURSE I'M SURE!" I rounded on Jiraiya. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU CHOOSE ME WHEN I DIDN'T EVEN COME FOR THE BLOODY INTERVIEW!?"

Jiraiya smiled calmly and as tempted as I was to wipe that smile off his face with a well placed punch or three, I decided to listen to the relic.

"I chose you _because _you didn't show up."

Okay...

Wasn't expecting that...

"What?"

"Every Autumn ever chosen has never attended the interview."

I blinked.

"So there has...never been a willing Autumn...?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Exactly. The kidnapping thing is even abit of a ritual really."

I stared blankly at him, my brain on overload.

So...in trying to **not** be chosen...I'd done the only thing necessary for me to **be**chosen...

"Shit."

I've always hated irony.

Jiraiya put a comforting hand on my shoulder and said, "Buck up."

I shrugged his hand off and glared at the floor in shame.

"But earlier, you said SHE was stuck with you...you said it was a woman who'd not wanted to be chosen...you were just messing with me huh?"

"No," Jiraiya chuckled. "A woman **also** didn't want to be chosen."

Seeing me look at Tsunade, he laughed. "No, not her. She was so thrilled she almost wet herself."

"Shut it Jiraiya. You tire me. Before we begin to eat, let's introduce our hosts," Tsunade said.

I looked up slightly, still miffed.

Shizune then came in, through summers door and said, "Summer's former host. Shizune. Summer's new hosts: Ino Yamanaka and Lee. "

A girl in a short black dress walked in, the silver wristguard worn high on her arm. She had long, strawcoloured hair and light blue eyes. She smiled

at Sakura as she stood by her side.

Next was-

No. Freaking. Way.

A guy with **BOWL-CUT** hair do, eyebrows thicker than the **RAINFOREST** and a _HUGE_ grin on his face came in.

That wasn't the worst part.

No.

He was in a _green_ tux.

Yeah...

Green.

I resisted the urge to laugh.

Jiraiya wasn't so inclined. He laughed out loud and gave the guy, Lee, a huge thumbs up, which was proptly reciprocated.

I was embarassed for him.

He had his silver wristguard on, over the sleeve of his suit.

From Spring's door, Anko came in.

For the millionth time, gravity showed quite an interesting pulling effect on my jaw.

"Anko?!"

"Anko Mitarashi. Former Spring Host."

"What the hell?!"

Jiraiya chuckled, "When I said 'she', I meant Anko. She was chosen as Spring host but refused. She couldn't quit so we let her do field work."

I shook my head.

I had** SO NOT SEEN THAT COMING!**

Anko smiled at me with something akin to an apology and continued, "Present hosts, Tenten and Temari."

Two girls came in, both in black dresses, wearing their wristguards on their left arms.

One had her brown hair up in two buns. As she came in first, I assumed she was Tenten. The other, Temari, a dark haired blonde, had hers held up

in four parts.

I instinctively turned to Winter's side.

Kabuto, a guy with dark silver-grey hair who also wore specs came in and smiled warmly, "Former Winter host, Kabuto . My successors: Shino

Abarume and Neji Hyuuga."

The first boy, Shino, came in with shades and a smart black trench coat that covered the lower half of his face.

The second had pale eyes just like Hinata's. As I wondered if he was her brother or something, he turned and smiled encouragingly at her.

She smiled back.

Neji seemed very much the overprotective brotherly type.

"Ibiki Morino."

I jumped, not having noticed the big guy come in.

He continued with a slight smirk in my direction, "My Autumn host successors: Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka."

I turned.

Shikamaru gave me a slight nod (lazy bum) and the guy next to him was grinning widely, he clapped me on the back and shook my hand.

I couldn't help but smile (albeit worriedly) back.

He was obviously hyper and probably just a little insane.

Actually a welcome change from Shikamaru.

Kiba had a black tux on, like the rest of us guys (except Lee) and had two red marks on his face under his eyes. He had brown messy hair and wore

the silver wristguard as a unorthodox pendant, with it hanging from a chain on his neck.

"You're the guy from the other school? The host right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he smiled, baring sharp canines. "I was supposed to transfer to your school that day but I'd been delayed so...they caught me off guard.

Didn't think I'd be chosen."

"But you're happy about it?"

Kiba nodded, "They let me bring my dog and I get to escape my mum's obsessive compulsive cleaning...it's a win win situation."

"You brought a dog here?"

"Yeah. You can see him later if you like. He's on the grounds."

I nodded, "Sure."

Tsunade was smiling now.

"If we're all done, let's take our seats and eat."

"Fine grandma," I whispered.

Tsunade's bosom rose and fell like an empire.

Uh oh.

Trouble.

"What. Did. You. Call. Me."

I wasn't sure if she was asking me a question or teaching me various words.

"He called you... 'Grandma'!" Jiraiya laughed loudly.

Orochimaru smirked at this but looked otherwise uninterested.

Shizune sighed, "What's so funny Jiraiya? You're way older than anyone here. Infact, you'll be kicking the bucket pretty soon."

Jiraiya stopped laughing and glared at Shizune.

"I'm not _that _old!"

Tsunade snorted, "Sure."

"Hey! We're all the same age! We were fifteen when chosen!"

Damn, the poor sucker was really getting riled up.

"Moving on," Orochimaru said in a low voice. "You will soon have your partners and-"

"Speaking of partners, where's that dog of yours Kiba?" Jiraiya asked, earning himself a glare from Orochimaru for interupting.

"Our partners are animals?" Sakura scowled.

DUH. I felt the need to snort but controlled myself.

How had she gotten chosen when she didn't seem to know even the _basics _of the Seasons?

Everyone knew the Seasons had animal partners...but no one knew who they were.

"Yes. And just for Seasons," she said, looking at a few of the hosts apologetically.

"And we call them _Partners_?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Somehow, that doesn't sound right."

Kakashi grinned from behind his book, his one visible eye curving upward, "That's just the pervert in you speaking."

"I should hope not," Tsunade frowned.

"Anything else?"

We all turned.

It was the first time Sasuke had spoken.

His voice was low and commanding.

Now I would **NEVER** judge a person on appearances or first impressions alone...but I don't like him.

"Can we eat now?" Kakashi pleaded.

"Yes, we can talk as we eat," Tsunade said.

We took our seats and I dug in.

I didn't realize how hungry I was till I looked up and found Shikamaru staring at me with a stupid smirk on his face. For him to have gathered enough

willpower to **smirk**, I expect whatever table manners I'd been taught were preoccupied at a bar somewhere and thus, not present at the moment.

"So..." Anko started, looking away when I gave her a dark glare. "I assume all the hosts know their positions...?"

"Yes," Ino said, her voice loud and bubbly.

It was alittle grating on the nerves.

"There are two posts for hosts," she said.

I laughed.

'posts, hosts'...

Hell, it looked like I'd have no fun here. I needed to get all the laughs I could. And if I had to laugh at _EVERY_ rhyme I heard then **DARN IT, **I WOULD

laugh at _EVERY_ rhyme I heard.

Anko continued, "There are primary and secondary hosts. A primary host is a Season's first line of defense AND offense. They must be battle-ready. A

secondary host covers strategy and response."

"Like 'Retreat'?" Shika asked.

Somehow, I got the feeling I'd be retreating in every battle.

"Yes," Anko sighed. "But you can't call for a retreat in **every **battle, Nara."

Shikamaru gave her a look that clearly said that he **could**.

"We won't reveal primaries and secondaries and as you've all been told, You are restricted from all season wings not your own."

"What'll happen if we ignore that restriction?" I asked.

"We'll know and there will be consequences."

I gulped. As did the rest of the room.

Orochimaru's words carried obvious malice and I really doubted I wanted to know what the consequences would be.

**(I am an awesome page break. Love me)**

After breakfast, the adults left us.

It was extremely awkward...like the feeling you get when someone tries to hook you up with an ugly friend of theirs...

Yeah...it was **that **awkward.

Ino and Sakura were whispering between themselves and casting the occassional glance at Sasuke who had his eyes closed, probably

contemplating matters of great importance- like whether to sit in public and brood or go do it somewhere else in private.

Hinata was making polite conversation with Tenten and Temari.

Kiba was talking animatedly to Shikamaru, who was ignoring him, if the blank look on his face was anything to go by. I think he'd just discovered

how to sleep with his eyes open.

The Winter musketeers were all silent actually.

I stood to leave and-

"AUTUMN!"

Huh?

"Lee?"

"Hi! I'm so pleased to meet you!"

How the hell did he move without me noticing? He's wearing _GREEN_, how could I NOT?

"Er...nice to meet you too..."

"Were you on your way out?!"

Why is he shouting?

Lee obviously wasn't psychic as he put a hand on my shoulder and walked me out.

Damn.

"Uh...shouldn't you go in and-"

"Nonsense!"

I sighed and he lead me outside the front doors.

He was probably on some whole new kind of drug.

"Wanna race around the castle?!"

I turned.

Now why would I want to do a stupid thing like that?

"Uh...no," I said out loud.

"Come on! You're wasting your youth!"

I edged away from him and said, "Alright. On your mark..."

He knelt.

"Get ready...Go!"

He shot past me like a bullet and I followed his example, bolting in the opposite direction toward the orchard.

I jumped over the short fence and ran in past the rows of trees.

Finally, I took in a deep breath and scanned the area, just in case.

I noticed a slight movement and looked up.

I nearly wet my pants but gladly settled for letting out a small startled cry.

There was a boy sitting in the tree.

He had shocking red hair and pale green eyes.

I gulped.

"Hi."

He didn't answer and I sighed.

"Mind if I join you?"

He looked away, clearly ignoring me.

Cheeky bastard.

I climbed the tree and sat on the branch opposite his.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I smiled, "I'm Naruto."

He continued to stare into space like I wasn't there.

"Well...I'll assume you're a mute. I'm hiding up here from a crazy per-"

"MY YOUTH HAS COME THROUGH!"

The redhead tensed and whispered, "Lee?"

I almost thought I heard wrong but nodded anyway, "Yeah."

"Then we'll be safe here for awhile."

I chuckled. "You've met him?"

The guy nodded, "He confuses me."

Apparently this wasn't a good thing.

I wouldn't have said "**confuses**" so much as I'd prefer "**Scares the shit out of**"...which would be pretty accurate...

We went back into our previous silence.

Was this guy insane?

"I'm not insane."

It took a while to register as I stared, "Pardon?"

I was **sure **I hadn't spoken out loud.

"I'm not insane," he repeated. "When the trees talk, I don't talk back."

"Er...right."

"Why are you still here?"

I looked at him, surprised at the question.

"Hiding from Lee...Remember?"

The guy shrugged.

"There are plenty of trees here. You could move or just go away."

I snorted, "Then I'd have no one to talk to."

He didn't answer me.

I didn't expect him to..

A slight breeze blew by and I settled comfortably onto the branch, lying down and closing my eyes.

Had I not known Shikamaru for years, I would never have been able to pull this move off.

"Gaara."

I must be hearing things.

My eyes remained closed as I yawned.

"Gaara Subaku."

"Um..." I opened one eye.

"That's my name."

The redhead had spoken.

His voice was as peppy as he was.

"Oh...I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Gaara nodded, leaning back against the trunk and we stayed there quietly.

For a few seconds.

"Naruto."

I looked at Gaara.

"Yeah?"

"Ibiki is coming."

I sat up and listened.

It was silent.

"What are you-"

"Naruto!"

I looked down and found Ibiki glaring up at me.

"Yes?"

"You're expected at the castle."

"What for?"

"A tour of the grounds."

I turned to look at Gaara but he'd vanished.

"What the-"

"Hurry."

Grumbling, I jumped down and followed Ibiki back to the castle.

When we got there, no one seemed to be standing at the door.

Ibiki sighed, "Where are they?"

I thought he was thinking out loud cause he sure as hell couldn't be asking ME.

"Kakashi got tired of waiting," Anko sighed, appearing seemingly out of nowhere behind me. "The lazy ass."

I think people have started making a habit out of scaring me...not that I was scared, of course.

Ibiki nodded, turning away.

"Well, I'm busy and can't do it."

Anko snorted, "He said to have Genma do it."

Ibiki halted.

I must admit, the way his shoulders tensed, I started to worry.

"He said to have _Genma _do it?"

Anko nodded, her smirk abit too wide for my liking.

Ibiki chuckled, something I hadn't thought possible, and said, "Alright then."

He walked away and I was left a confused mass of bones and organs.

"Um...who's Genma?"

Anko patted my head lightly.

"Here he comes."

The main doors opened and a man with light brown hair and brown eyes came down the steps.

He had a toothpick in his mouth and didn't particularly look harzardous.

He leaped off the last steps and landed by Anko.

She grinned.

"This is Naruto. Show him around the grounds."

Genma then looked me up and down and asked in a neutral voice.

"How old are you?"

"Uh...15..."

"DAMN!" he swore, startling me as he turned to glare at Anko. "Why can't you ever bring me a hot guy who _ISN'T_ under the legal age!? You're

**_sadists_**! All of you!"

He took in a deep breath and smiled at me.

"Are you gay?"

"No," I answered dryly.

"Are you sure?"

"Very much so."

"How do you know? Have you ever been with a man?"

"No."

"Don't worry. I'll have to break you in."

My eyes widened at that as Anko gave me a patriotic salute and walked away.

"You're joking aren't you?" I asked carefully.

"If he says no, it's called rape!" Anko called out over her shoulder to Genma.

I stared.

And stared.

And thought, what the hell, I'll stare some more.

"Don't stare, it's rude," Genma said pleasantly. "I am a total hunk of studliness but you'll have to try concentrate on the tour."

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

Obviously, the only adults present here were psychotic.

Genma led the way.

"Where are we going?" I asked pointedly. "You should probably know that if you try anything funny, I'll kick your balls so hard all your descendants

will have ingrown testicles."

"Kinky."

"Pervert."

"Yes, I am," he agreed proudly. "First, we'll visit the Accounts offices-"

"Oh joy."

"-Which happen to be right next to the Animal kraal."

"Can't wait," I added, my words dripping with sarcasm.

" I **KNEW** you'd LIKE IT!"

We walked around the castle and I could see a large modern looking building a good ten minutes walk away.

We fell into pleasant ease- him chatting away and me **ignoring **him chatting away.

Felt like I'd done it for years.

We got to the building and I saw the kraal alittle way away.

A few bitter looking scrawny men with thick glasses left the building and disappeared behind it.

Their expressions surprised me.

"Most of them have-"

"Curled upper lips? Ah yes! It is the main feature of excellent accountants...and camels. But we try not to have too many camels running around so

we don't get confused."

"Oh."

"Well, you can see the animals now if you like."

I shrugged and followed him past the building.

"_THIS_ is your **_KRAAL_**?"

Genma nodded, "Yes, why?"

Because it was probably the size of...well...a large farm.

It also had different kinds of animals grazing.

I wondered how they'd managed to have such a large span of FLAT land on a MOUNTAIN.

"It would have been more interesting if the Partners were in," Genma was saying.

"You keep them here?"

"No," he shrugged. "They just like to come in and hang out."

"Really?"

"Well, I think they like to toss insults at the other animals but I can't say for sure."

"Of course."

I'd been placed in the hands of a crazy person.

Genma struck me as the kind of guy who'd walk up to an old lady on the street, say "What's _that_?!" and pull her knickers out from behind her ear.

"HEY NARUTO!"

I turned and smiled when I saw the figures running up to me, well...one figure was running and the other was walking at a pace that would put

evolution to shame.

Kiba got to me first of course.

"Hey Kiba."

Kiba smiled at me before turning to Genma, who asked urgently.

"Are you sixteen?!"

"Um...no. Why?"

I supplied the answer, "Legal age for sexual consent."

Kiba raised an eyebrow at that.

"And that affects him, how?"

"Don't as-"

"I'm so glad you asked!" Genma interrupted. "Because **YOU**, handsome boy, are gay!"

Kiba looked shocked.

Shikamaru finally caught up but didn't seem particularly inclined to join in the conversation.

"No! I'm _not_!" Kiba shouted indignantly.

"You _are_, you just don't know it yet."

Kiba and I shared a look as Genma went into explaining just how much better off we'd be if we just admitted it.

"Why aren't you with the others?" I asked Kiba, ignoring Genma once again.

He snorted, "Honestly, I can't tell who's lazier, Kakashi or Shikamaru. The ass told us to walk around and see the place for ourselves and Shikamaru

lay down where he'd been standing and started cloud-gazing. Lame-ass bloody tour."

Shikamaru looked up at the sky and said, "I'd resent that, if I had the energy."

I smiled at Kiba's reference to the "ass", assuming he meant Kakashi.

We walked away, the three of us barely taking note of the fact the Genma was now saying something about whipped cream.

Kiba started talking about his favourite soccer team which just happened to rival mine and thus, we went into a calm, lengthy, "civil" discussion of

how our teams fared:

"You pompous idiot! There is **NO WAY** that ref _WASN'T_ paid off!"

"Oh come off it, you retard! You lost cause of a lack of goals...and BRAINS!"

It was all in good fun actually... And involved many colourful swear words as is customary to male bonding.

By the end, we were closer than brothers and would gladly sell off our grandmothers to help the other.

Shikamaru had silently walked with us, muttering a 'Troublesome' when Genma mentioned that he found the 'cool, aloof and sometimes lazy' type

atractive. Before that, I didn't even know it was a **TYPE**...a mouthful, yes, but definitely not a **_'type'_**.

"What do you do here?" Kiba asked Genma.

"I'm an Instructor."

"What kind?"

"Battle instructor for Seasons and hosts."

"Really?" I asked, disbelieving.

"Yup."

"But...you're so..."

"Goodlooking? Cool? Awesome?"

"_Lame_."

"That hurt."

Genma pouted, expecting an apology and being slightly disappointed as we continued to walk with no such thing in mind.

"Hey, isn't that that Winter dude?"

I looked over where Kiba was pointing and indeed saw noticed the pale skin and dark hair.

"He seems friendly," Genma said loudly.

Kiba and I snorted. Shikamaru would have snorted but settled for the raising of an eyebrow- the Shika equivalent of a snort.

"Ask him over."

Before I could stop him from going ahead with Genma's order, Kiba shouted loudly.

"Hey **ass-wipe!** Over here!" Sasuke looked at us. "Wanna take the tour with us?!"

I'm pretty sure if there's a way to make someone hate your guts, Kiba had mastered AND achieved it.

The guy turned away from us and walked off.

"What's up with him?"

"You called him 'ass-wipe'," Shika offered dryly.

"So?"

Okay...so Kiba sees nothing wrong with this.

"Would you call _me _asswipe?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered immediately.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"WHY?"

"Would it offend you?"

It occurred to me that maybe swearing may be something akin to second nature for Kiba.

"No, guess not."

"Good," he nodded with finality.

"You guys are being all chummy! I'm so whelmed!"

Kiba and I stared at Genma, who was grinning at us with what I had to assume was a blend of approval, joy and a rather large dollop of perversion.

"You mean **over**-whelmed," Shika sighed.

He shook his head, "Nah. I mean whelmed. I'm definately _not _overwhelmed...Or underwhelmed, for that matter.."

"You're just...whelmed?" Kiba said, all monotone.

"Yup."

"What the hell does that even _mean_?"

"I haven't the foggiest."

I stopped myself from strangling the bum.

Killing an instructor was not going to look good in any way.

Shika looked like he might be thinking the same, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

Genma let slip that Seasons would be receiving our Partners the next day at noon.

I wasn't exactly looking forward to that.

It seemed too solid.

Like... if I got some pet, I'd stay here forever.

"What time is it?" Kiba asked after a while.

None of us had watches on.

Genma looked up at the sky.

Kiba frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at the sky. Duh."

"Why?"

"To find out the time of course."

"Of course," Kiba rolled his eyes.

A few seconds rolled by.

"Any conclusions?"

"Yes, I think so," he nodded pointedly.

An extra couple of passed and he looked at us.

"Well?" Shikamaru droned.

"I've made up my mind that it's almost definitely -and of course there's always room for human error here, you understand- but I'm prepared to say

that it's almost _definitely_ daytime. Sixty-three per cent certain. Or maybe sixty-nine."

Not having the patience to deal with this stroke of idiocy, I left Kiba and Shikamaru to deal with Genma and cut short my private tour saying I had to

pee and dashing off.

I walked past the second wing of the castle and came up to another building.

This one was made completely out of glass.

Inside it were various colours and kinds of plants.

I concluded that it was the greenhouse and marvelled at my powers of observation.

I walked in and shut the door behind me.

It was warm in here but not at all unpleasant.

I took off my tux jacket (Damn! Had I been wearing it the whole time?!) and unbuttoned my shirt halfway.

I was severly tempted to bury the amulet in a flowerpot somewhere but thought better of it- they'd probably find it anyway and then I'd have to

wear something muddy.

I figured it would be lunchtime in a while but I had no intention of being present for it.

Besides, I wasn't desperate to eat after that massive, albeit awkward, breakfast.

I walked inbetween the rows of plants and came up to a large tree.

I walked up to it, amazed by the fact that it was so big I'd have to walk quite abit to go around it.

Why was it that everything here was gigantic?

Are they overcompensating?

I absently touched the tree and suddenly, the temperature was lower...the uncomfortable warmth was replaced with a cooler one...a perfect one.

It was an elaborate place to plot my escape.

I imagined myself smuggling some cutlery from the dining table and stashing them in my room. I would then use the spoons to dig out a tunnel to

freedom.

It all seemed very 'Count of Monte Cristo'...

Assuming I got the distance and direction right, I'd be free in...oh, about seven years.

Sometimes I hate being a math genius.

I thought of just walking out the gates. That would **probably **take **less **than seven years.

Maybe.

I sat under the tree and rested my head against its unbelievably smooth trunk.

It was peaceful.

I suddenly felt very drowsy and closed my eyes, determined not to fall asleep.

After what seemed like seconds later, I opened my eyes, wondering how long I'd blinked (others would say "slept". I wouldn't).

Looking up at the sky through the glass, I noticed it was a golden red.

Shit!

It was evening!

I'd slept all afternoon.

While some would panic and get up and rush off somewhere, I didn't.

Maybe it was Shikamaru's potent brand of laziness rubbing off on me, maybe it was a deep dread of running into Genma again...maybe it was even

the fact that I didn't want to be here and as such had nothing to rush for... Or all these things really. I'm not picky.

I sighed contentedly as I leaned my head back against the tree.

I wished I'd carried my sketchbook with me. I'd have loved to draw this place.

I'm pretty good (read: **awesome**).

Anko had placed me in the art program at school and apparently I had a natural talent for it.

It helped me adjust to most things.

Iruka, my parents...it felt good to have something that could keep me occupied for hours and keep my mind off things.

Especially the seasons.

I heard rustling.

From all the horror movies I'd watched, you'd think I'd know better than to go toward it.

But hell, I was bored. Maybe my death would be an interesting event to tell my kids when... Never mind.

I walked around the tree at a leisurely pace.

It was suddenly really quiet again.

I paused.

Rustle.

I walked again and was about to tell myself that hearing rustling in a green house IS NOT weird when I realized that BECAUSE it was a

GREENHOUSE, there shouldnt BE any rustling...not like significant breezes were going past every second.

There was a scream and I ran.

Toward it.

Yes.

I am an idiot.

I came face to face with silver eyes and nearly screamed myself but that would have been taking it too far considering I'd already screamed twice

today.

The breath was knocked out of me but by some _miracle_, I remained standing.

Looking up carefully as my lungs recooperated, I found myself staring into a pair of silver eyes again.

"Hi."

Hinata Hyuuga. Spring.

She was still in her black dress... And was presently standing in my arms.

I made the quick conclusion that I'd bumped into her, gotten the wind knocked out of me and braved it all by still standing and holding the guilty

party.

I smiled.

"Hi. Did you just scream?"

Hinata then did something amazing.

She **_snorted_**.

"I **don't **scream."

I gave her what must have been a disbelieving expression cause she turned in my arms and pointed.

"It was her."

I looked down and saw pink.

"Summer?"

Hinata sighed, "Her name's Sakura."

I nodded, the voice in my head going _'Whatever'_.

"Why'd she scream?"

Hinata shrugged and stepped back, the warmth I hadn't noticed being present, leaving me immediately.

"She ran over here, saw me and screamed. I expect she must have been startled but the screaming **was **abit much...and the fainting quite

unnecessary. I was rushing to get help when you blocked me."

"Sorry."

I walked forward and tried to touch Sakura.

I pulled my hand back.

Hinata was by my side in seconds. "What's wrong?" she asked, trying to reach out to Sakura as well.

When she also pulled her hand back, we shared a strange look.

The area around Sakura was... hot.

Not 'hot' like like she has a fever..._hot_ like the sun had been reincarnted into her body and was presently trying to act as a heater.

We couldn't touch her.

"What are you two doing?"

We looked up sharply.

I think I heard my neck crack.

That couldn't be good.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The raven was staring at us with a blank expression and I thought to myself again that he really suited the cold-blooded position that was Winter.

If I'd been in his position and found two people over a body, I'd have screamed bloody murder (or, you know...**shouted **bloody murder...)

"We're trying to help her," Hinata answered, her tone even.

"Doesn't look like it."

"Yeah?" Hinata asked, her voice oozing sarcasm. "You're right. We killed her for reasons that will be revealed as the movie progresses."

I faced her.

Wow.

She'd seemed so nice and polite...

First impressions, you did it again...

"Look," She said to Sasuke. "If you're not going to help, go away."

Sasuke looked like he was actually considering it before he stepped forward and knelt across us and like us, tried to hold Sakura.

Unlike us, after initially pulling his hand away, he stretched it again and shook her shoulder.

We stared.

How had he-

Sakura moaned and Hinata and I stepped back as she abruptly sat up.

She faced Sasuke, who hadn't flinched at her sudden movements, and blushed.

"Winter!"

"It's Sasuke," he corrected immediately.

Flustered, she stuttered and I found myself rolling my eyes at that.

Tch. _Girls_.

"You!"

She pointed a finger accusingly in my direction.

I stepped away from Hinata just to make sure that she was indeed the source of the Pinkette's fury.

Yup. She was.

Sasuke had retreated to a safe distance while I moved toward the tree and leaned against it, loving the view of what was sure to be an interesting

cat fight.

I'd be sure to stop it if things got ugly (but only **after **they'd ripped each other's clothes off or something).

"Me, _what_?" Hinata asked evenly.

"You _scared _me!"

Sasuke, Hinata and me all stared at Sakura like she was a lunatic- because there was no other explanation we could think of.

Unexpectedly and completely at random, there was clapping.

We all spun.

Our predescessors were standing together looking at us proudly, well, except for Kakashi but his eye did look kinda proud.

"You found the Tree," Tsunade smiled.

Okay...

We looked at the tree and turned back to look at her.

Yay.

We found the tree.

"The tree of what?"

"Pardon?"

"Well," I started. "Is it the tree of power? Of knowledge? Of cool but deadly weaponry? What?"

She shrugged, "We just call it The Tree."

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

A pause.

"Congratulations."

"For what?" Sakura asked, somehow edging closer to Sasuke.

"What can you feel?" Tsunade asked cryptically.

I could tell the men were getting impatient, especially Jiraiya- he was twitching.

"Feel?"

"Dammit Tsunade! Just tell them!" Jiraiya shouted.

Tsunade glared at him and sighed, "This tree is one of the sources of a Season's power. It has always been a rite of passage for Seasons to find it

on their own and get their first power, a gift."

I blinked.

All **_that_** and they just called it "_the tree_"?!

"What power?" Sakura asked breathlessly.

Tsunade smiled again, "How do you feel?"

Sakura thought about it for a second and said, "Hot."

Hinata and I agreed silently.

"And you?" Tsunade turned to Sasuke.

In answer, Sasuke breathed out.

It was like the visible puffs of air when someone breathed out on a cold day.

Except it was warm in here.

Tsunade turned to Hinata and me.

"This power is called Chakra. You couldn't touch Sakura because of it. It flows through your body and emits your perfect environment, like a

forcefield."

"Sasuke could touch her," Hinata pointed out.

"Well, that would be because of the fact that he's freezing so her heat wouldn't hurt him."

"What about us?" she motioned to herself and me.

Tsunade grinned, "You're the intermediate Seasons. You'll feel warm for your duration as a Season."

"Sorry?"

"For life," Jiraiya put in.

"Great."

"In time, you will each learn to control this power and use it appropriately."

I felt kinda miffed.

I couldn't punch Sasuke even if I wanted to.

"Oh...and don't worry. In a few days, you intermediates will be able to land several blows on Summer and Winter," Kakashi added.

"Kakashi!"

"What? Just putting it out there."

Tsunade huffed, "Well, that IS true...it's also true that until that happens, Summer and Winter can't touch you either."

"Your training will begin in two days. You'll meet the former partners tomorrow and receive your own," Tsunade continued. "Now, let's all go take

baths and put on normal clothes. Every meal from now on will be completely casual..."

"Why'd we have to wear formal blah in the first place?" Kakashi complained.

He received a smack upside his head.

"WE? _You _didn't wear a monkey suit like the rest of us!"

He received another smack to the head for mumbling something that sounded distinctly like 'PMS'...

They left the greenhouse and we followed, Sakura a short distance from Sasuke, trying to make polite conversation and Hinata and I, both

commenting on how retarded this whole thing seemed.

Hinata kinda reminded me of a mix between Kiba, Shikamaru...and me.

We would get along just fine-

Until my escape plan pulled through and I managed to spoon my way to freedom.

-

**A/N: Here I was thinking people actually LIKED this story...  
**

***sighing sadly*  
**

**Just remember: speed of update is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to number of reviews.  
**

**To those not particularly suited to math, this means if you review, I will update.  
**

**(1) don't kill me. I like Twilight. *mumbles* still dunno WHY vampires should be all GLITTERY in the sun but *shrugs* whatever.  
**

**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews.  
**

**I'm trying to reply to all of them AND write AND get on with school ^_^  
**

**Love ya,  
Riz**


	4. Suna Part Two: Partners and Prank Week

**The four Seasons 4  
by Rizember**

**-**

**Suna part two: Partners**

**-**

**Beta'd by: [Unbeta'd]**

**-**

**A/N**: Hey, sorry if it seemed like I was Sakura-bashing... I wasn't. If I made her seem stupid or whatever, that wasn't my intention cause she's not. I'm just trying to bring up differences in all their personalities. I hate character bashing and will NOT have that here.  
Sorry again D:

-

**Disclaimer**: Leprechauns like green.  
-

That night, I had a nightmare about receiving a cricket as my partner.

I dreamt that I was on stage and right after being presented with the cricket, I had to do a comedy show.

No one laughed and the cricket made that stupid chirping sound and looked like Genma.

I then stepped on the cricket.

I woke up in a cold sweat.

I couldn't get back to sleep.

The bed was too hot, the room was too cold and the leaves floating above me were just pissing me off.

I think they might even have been laughing at me... How could they not?

Here in this luxurious palace was actually someone who didn't want to be here.

Someone who was here **because **they didn't _want _to be here.

Maybe I was an ass in a past life, cause I certainly feel like one now.

I left my bed and walked into the bathroom.

Somewhere during the night, I'd thrown off my shirt & was now just in my PJ bottoms.

I turned on the shower and didn't even flinch when the cold water sprayed me.

It was getting warmer anyway...and I'd already exceeded the number of screams allowed to guys in their lifetime i.e. two (one for when you're

born. The other for when you win the lottery. The same applies for the number of times a guy's allowed to cry).

My PJ bottoms were now soaked through but I couldn't bring myself to care.

Somehow, in less than 24 hours, my whole life had been decided for me and I wondered if maybe it was time I got a prescription for a pair of balls.

I don't know how long I stood in the shower but when I left, my clock said it was one in the morning.

Great. Who **doesn't **love being up in the middle of the night for no particular reason?

I took off my bottoms and put them in the laundry hamper after trying my best to squeeze every last drop of water from them.

I took another pair and put them on.

The chances of me falling asleep were so slim they were anorexic.

I decided to leave. Not "run away" cause I didn't know which way to go and how not to get caught.

I shrugged on a jumper and sneakers and went out, shutting my door quietly and walking to the window opposite it.

There was no one on the grounds and it looked really peaceful.

I walked past the leaves that were still chasing each other through the hallway.

I reached the main doors to the wing and left.

There was no one moving about.

When I got to the outside, I swore.

Even from this distance, I could see the guards on watch on the walls.

I put my hands in my jumper pockets and started to walk around the castle.

The only part I hadn't been to.

The front had the orchards to the side and the road and carpark. The other side had the somewhat hidden green house and Accountants Building

in the distance, next to the kraal.

This time, I walked past the orchard, going toward the back of the castle.

The only sounds heard were my breathing and the sound of my sneakers on the path.

There were trees, lots of them, but not like the orchard.

These trees looked like they were actually a proper unmanned forest.

I walked in (I suppose the forest was now officially 'manned').

The place was dark and I shivered slightly.

I'm not inclined to be scared of the dark. It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, it's not like a treaty with light was ever signed where one of the

conditions was that nothing scary would ever happen if you could see it during the day.

Most phobias are ridiculous.

I used to be scared of heights until Anko told me, "It's not the 'height' you're scared of. What you fear is 'ground'... Because everyone knows; its

not the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop at the end."

For a week after that, I refused to leave my room on the ground floor of my house.

I don't get bug phobias.

Bugs aren't creepy at all, well...except for butterflies.

Butterflies are a whole other issue... All gross and fluttering here and there, getting girls to think they're cute and all...

I prefer moths- at least THEY aren't pretentious.

CRACK!

I looked down sharply, thinking maybe I'd stepped on a twig.

Nope.

CRACK!

Okay... Not scared... Just...wondering what that is...

CRACK!

I tried hard to control my breathing as I walked toward where the sound was coming from (I have an unhealthy curiosity).

Seconds later, I found myself on the edge of a clearing.

And in the middle of the clearing was a-

"What the hell," I whispered.

A giant racoon.

It was apparently attacking a poor, defenseless tree and snapping its thick branches.

CRACK!

What the hell did the tree DO to it?!

"Stop."

Wth?

In front of the racoon was that redhead from earlier, Gaara I think it was.

The idiot was glaring...yes, GLARING...at the pissed off giant woodland creature!

He was going to get himself KILLED! And here I was with no popcorn!

"I told you to stop," Gaara continued, talking to the raccoon like it was a perfectly normal occurrence.

The raccoon stared back at him for a few minutes and then-

Before I could reason with myself, my legs moved forward, forcing my body to try catch up.

I tackled Gaara to the ground just as the racoon tried to replant the tree right where'd he'd been standing seconds before.

I turned and saw it staring at me.

I scrambled off Gaara, who immediately sat up, and shoved him away.

"Run!"

He stared at me.

"Damn it! I know I'm gorgeous but you can stare at me later IF WE LIVE!"

Gaara turned away from me and looked at the racoon.

"Return."

It sighed.

I gaped.

"Did it just SIGH?"

The racoon lowered its head in what looked like a well executed bow, and vanished into a pile of sand.

The tattoo on Gaara's forehead shone bright red for a second before it went back to normal.

I blinked.

Tattoo?

Wtf?

"When did you get a tattoo?"

He gave me a look that said I was an idiot.

He must have had it when I met him but I must not have noticed it.

"Why did you do that?"

I stared at him, the look on my face saying he was apparently an idiot too.

When we continued our staring and I got uncomfortable, I sighed irritably.

"What?"

"Why did you save me?"

I suddenly recalled that there had just been a giant racoon doing a very good impression of deforestation and that as this wasn't a normal,

everyday situation, I should be reasonably concerned. So-

"What the hell _was _that thing?!"

Gaara stood up and I realized I was still on the ground.

I stood and challenged him with an unflinching gaze.

"A giant racoon," he stated.

"Yes, thankyou. That was helpful." I said dryly. "I saw what it was you idiot. Mind telling me what it was doing here, **how **it got _that _big, what

**you **are doing here, where its gone and why you were trying to get yourself killed?"

Gaara actually looked..._amused_.

"Is that all?"

"I'll get to the other questions in a minute."

He sighed, "That 'thing' is Shukaku. My...pet."

"Pet," I drawled.

"Yes."

"Shukaku is your giant pet racoon."

"Yes."

"Your giant pet racoon that just tried to gift you with a tree."

"Yes."

"He's very thoughtful."

"Isn't he?"

I would have smiled at his attempt at humour (or whatever it was, he wasn't smiling so it was hard to tell) if I didn't think he was lying.

"What were you doing?"

Gaara walked past me and I followed.

"Well?" I pressed.

"I was training him."

"To what, kill you?"

"It doesn't matter," he rounded on me. "You _can't _tell anyone what you saw."

We stared at each other for a few seconds then I nodded.

"Okay."

We walked in silence and then Gaara said, "You aren't in bed."

And the title of 'Captain Obvious' goes to...

"No, I'm not."

"Why?"

"Couldn't sleep."

He seemed surprised by this cause he stopped and looked at me funny.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just strange."

We both walked again and even through the thickness of the mini-forest, I could see the castle.

"What about you? Why aren't YOU asleep?" I asked.

"I'm an insomniac."

"Ah... Makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Well," I smirked. "It's obvious that being killed by a giant racoon with a tree is the latest insomniac cure."

"Yes but it might be alot harder to wake up in the morning," he added dryly.

"Was that humour?"

"I would assume so."

"I'm impressed."

We reached the castle and I headed for the entrance.

Gaara didn't follow me.

"Arent you coming?" I asked.

He shook his head, "No point. I still won't be able to sleep."

I shrugged but said, "As long as you don't try to subdue giant animals with 'love'," I motioned his tattoo. "Then its cool."

He nodded, "I'm done with that for the night anyway."

I turned away.

"Naruto."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you do that?"

"What?" I asked.

"You could've been killed," he pointed out.

"Yes, so could you."

When he stayed quiet, I shrugged and said, "Can't let my friends die. Especially not the ones who help me keep away from Lee."

Gaara didn't say anything. I knew that this was some pivotal moment in our lives- it would be the day he and I made a bond of friendship... The

day his friendless self would never forget...The day he would remember for the rest of his life and I wanted to see his overwhelmed, emotional

face...

I turned around and found myself looking hard at nothing.

Gaara was gone...again.

Darn antisocial bastard.

I went in.

I walked quietly through the halls and noticed a shadow at the end.

Shit. Busted.

Wait...no one said I couldn't leave the castle at night.

I lifted my chin and walked bravely up until a few feet away from the shadow.

It was at the exact time that my bravery decided its vacation was long overdue and took off.

The 'shadow' was actually a massive dude who hadn't noticed me yet.

Maybe I could sneak away and escape to get backup (like Gaara's raccoon).

Just as I stretched one leg away and tried to tiptoe off, the floor creaked (which was bloody amazing considering it was a tiled floor).

The giant looked at me and grimaced.

I gulped as my life once again flashed before my eyes.

Ramen...I'll miss you...don't cry for me. I'm sure I'll find you in heaven (fingers crossed).

"You should be in bed."

Good gosh, IT CAN SPEAK!

The figure stepped into the light coming from a window and I noticed he had gray eyes and orange hair.

I chuckled and whispered, "Carrot top."

His eyes narrowed and I gulped again.

Sure Naruto. Genius move, teasing the huge possibly psychotic huge and sleep-deprived huge guy in an empty hallway.

'You know what?' my brain shouted indignantly. 'You DESERVE to die.'

"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered at the big guy. "I just meant you have orange hair and orange is like a colour and oranges are orange and so are carrots-"

He smiled.

That did not necessarily bode well with me.

Most killers smiled too.

But...this guy's smile was... kind?

"I'm Juugo. I'm the Janitor."

I blinked.

"Juugo the janitor?" I laughed and when fear got a hold of my brain, I stopped.

But... he was still smiling.

I sighed with relief and said, "I'm Naruto."

He smiled and leaned on the mop I hadn't noticed in his hands.

"Need some help?"

He stared long and hard.

I was beginning to think I'd offended him when he grinned and nodded at another mop in a bucket a few feet away.

"Are you sure you won't tire yourself out?"

I shrugged, "Being tired is exactly what I need. I couldn't fall asleep."

He nodded and we worked.

He told me stories about the people here, the servants and how he worked at night cause it was easiest.

I laughed at a few of the things he said, like how Genma had once gotten his ass kicked by both an irate Tsunade and an amused Kakashi (who

had been bored at the time and helped Tsunade beat Genma up without even asking why).

Apparently Genma had been spying on her as a favour to Jiraiya (whose ass was kicked soon after that).

After mopping the long hallway (I swear it wasn't this long before) Juugo sighed and asked in a nervous tone, "Did you..." he cleared his throat.

"Did you help me cause I frighten you?"

I smiled, "You were pretty scary at first yeah... but I helped you cause I wanted to exhaust myself to sleep."

He smiled brightly and said, "Alright. Then... Thankyou."

I shrugged, "No problem. See you around."

Juugo nodded as I walked past him, headed for my room.

I was definately exhausted and had a small smile as I thought of Gaara and Juugo.

Did this place let out all the lunatics at night?

Back in my room, it occurred to me that I didn't know who Gaara was and what he was doing in Suna.

It didn't exactly strike me as weird though. Maybe he trained the animals...and possibly, Partners as well.

And all the people I'd seen the previous day, the ones tending to the grounds...I wondered where they lived.

I hadn't seen them come in.

Was Yuukimaru one of them?

With my mind trying vainly to grasp slippery thoughts and my body cursing my very existence, I fell asleep.

**(I am a Neji page break. It is my fate)**

Something was running along my face.

I shook my head and it fell off.

Seconds later, it was back.

My sleep muddled brain started a slow reboot...

Something...on...my...face....

My brain decided I wasn't acting fast enough and thus, took control of my body by grudgingly opening one eye (my brain and I are officially not on

speaking terms... The arrogant swine).

With my one eye rebelling against me and trying to focus on the thing in front of me, I tried to get the rest of me to go back to sleep.

"Naruto..."

"Mmm?"

"Wake up love."

Love?

What the-

My other eye opened as well and...I'm ashamed to say...I screamed.

Yes, again. But it was a manly kind of scream this time...

My bedroom door was thrown open as Jiraiya and Shikamaru ran in, Jiraiya in a bathrobe, brandishing a baseball bat and shouting, " What?

Where? Who?!"

I blinked at them.

They looked at me.

Jiraiya's bat was still in a swinging position, ready to attack.

"I heard a little girl scream," Shika said, when none of us spoke.

...Little...girl...?

I scowled at him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" he smirked sleepily.

I pointed at the wall.

They turned and saw what had freaked me out.

Genma was smiling sheepishly and waving from his position at the wall.

He was eyeing Jiraiya's bat wearily.

"Genma."

"Hello Jiraiya."

"What were you doing in here?"

"Uh...well...I..."

"We're here to wake Autumn up for the Partners meeting."

We turned.

Yuukimaru came out of my closet carrying clothes and sneakers and setting them at the foot of my bed.

"You're expected to be early as well, Jiraiya," Yuukimaru stated dryly.

Jiraiya nodded slowly and lowered his bat.

Shika left immediately with Jiraiya following soon after but not before he glared at Genma one last time.

"Have you two ever learned the concept of knocking?"

Genma and Yuukimaru stared at me with blank expressions.

"Apparently not," I sighed. "Do not enter my room without my permission. I don't care whether you're ordered to or not."

Yuukimaru shrugged. He obviously couldn't care less.

Genma pouted. "But-"

"You, Don't speak. The next time you think about touching me, don't. Cause if you do, you're going to get a fist shoved up your ass."

"Silly Naruto. You only need a few fingers for preparation."

I scolwed at him, "Could you **be **more of a perv?!"

"I doubt it. I've tried."

"Is _everything _about sex with you?"

"'Course not... There's also looks and money."

"Are you on drugs?"

"Pardon?" he asked, lifting one foot after the other and checking the floor.

"He means 'do you do drugs?'" Yuukimaru explained.

"Ooh...Well, I _used to_ do drugs."

"Used to?" I asked doubtfully.

He nodded, "I still do, but I used to, too."

Frustrated and exhausted, I threw my covers over my head and tried to get back to sleep.

"Autumn, wake up."

"Go away Yuukimaru. And the name's Naruto NOT autumn."

My voice was probably sounded muffled and silly but I didn't care.

I was tired.

"You have to get up!"

"Screw you, Genma."

"I wish you would, Ruto."

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Ruto."

"But-"

I threw my covers off and looked at my alarm clock.

It was almost four. In the morning.

"So...you BOTH had to come wake me?"

They nodded.

"At four in the morning?"

They nodded again.

With amazing 'must-sleep' powers, I threw the alarm clock at them.

Yuukimaru dodged just in time for it to smack Genma in the face.

"HEY!" he protested.

"GET OUT!"

Genma scrambled out while Yuukimaru stood his ground.

"Wake. Up."

"No."

"I'm warning you..."

"Sod off."

With that, I returned to my beddings and shut my eyes.

Suddenly, my covers were being lifted off me.

I sat up, ready to resort to MURDER if necessary but soon found myself gaping at the ceiling.

The leaves that had been floating above my bed moments before were now floating above it, with my beddings in their cruel, leafy paws.

"Dammit Yuukimaru! Make them give them back!"

Yuukimaru shook his head and snapped his fingers.

Some of the leaves then came down and lifted me off the bed!

Seeing as how the laws of gravity and other universal truths were being defied by the leaves, I figured I'd do something about it and swore at

them.

"If you don't put me down I'll set you all on fire."

I was then promptly dropped.

Onto the hard floor.

As I rubbed my butt, I glared at the leaves.

This time, I KNEW they were laughing at me.

"Your clothes."

"Out."

Yuukimaru left but I not before I saw the small smirk on his face.

**(I am a fangirl page break. I squeal, therefore, I am)**

After my reluctant shower, I dressed and followed Yuukimaru.

Genma had disappeared but that didnt necessarily bode well with me.

Yuukimaru left me at the Autumn entrance to the dining hall and with a grumble, I went in.

The other Seasons were there.

Apparently it was just the four of us.

The table was set with fruit, juices various boxes of cereal, milk, coffee and tea. There was also toast set up but I hate toast.

"Morning," I sighed.

Sakura nodded, stifling a yawn and mumbled, "Morning."

Hinata smiled weakly at her large cup of coffee and murmered something.

Sasuke just stared at his bowl of cereal and said, "Hn."

I rolled my eyes at that.

I'm not fluent in "Hn-ese".

I poured myself some cereal, wondering how the hell I'd gone a WHOLE day without ramen.

No wonder I felt so weak.

Fruits and veggies were my one weakness.

My arch enemy would probably be called Cabbage Man or something and would nearly defeat me in an ultimate 'veggie Vs Pork ramen' battle.

But of course, meat would win in the end.

It always does.

For example:

Cows=Meat.

Grass= Veggies.

Cows eat grass.

There you are... it has thus been proved through stressful, indepth scientific study that vegetables bite big wind and meat is awesome.

"Morning rugrats."

We didnt even bother to turn.

Jiraiya was standing tiredly in my line of sight, still in his bathrobe.

"Hey Naruto."

I scowled at him and he chuckled.

"Seems none of our successors are morning people," Tsunade smiled.

"It's not morning yet," Sakura grumbled.

"Yes it is."

"Is the sun up?"

"No-"

"Then it's not morning."

Tsunade laughed and ruffled Sakura's hair.

Sakura didnt bother putting her hair right. Maybe she was still too sleepy to notice that her crush was in the room.

"Why aren't you eating?" Jiraiya asked me.

"Sleepy. Can't pick up spoon."

"Sucks for you then."

Orochimaru looked down at me and I had the good sense not to look up.

I probably wouldn't like what I'd see.

I figured, correctly, that Kakashi wasnt in.

"Why do we have to meet our Partners before the sun's even up?"  
"You dont."

"Um...okay. So...we're here for some speeches or something?"

"Nope," Tsunade smirked and I got the feeling I wasnt going to like what they had to say.

"You'll meet our Partners this afternoon as well as get your own presented to you."

"Afternoon..." I deadpanned.

"So, what are we doing this morning?" Hinata asked, stifling a yawn.

"Nothing. You're free actually."

"What!?" we asked (except Sasuke. He was still staring at his bowl).

"Welcome...to prank week," Jiraiya stated.

We stared.

"So...you had us woken up in the middle of the night...for nothing?" Hinata asked, her disbelief clear.

'"Yep," Jiraiya grinned.

"The Partner intros are this afternoon..." I said coldly.

"Yep."

"So...I'm just DREAMING that I'm here at four in the morning and NOT going to kill you?"

"Uh...Jiraiya?" Tsunade looked unsurely from me to Jiraiya as if pointing out that I was a threat and he should try placate my current bloodlust.

Jiraiya coughed and said loudly, "Early to rise, early to bed- makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead."

WTF?!

He then said, "Mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes. Mission. This is Prank week. Prank week is an important tradition where you test what skills you have and do your best not to get caught."

All our mouths were hanging open now, I think we were in a perfect mix of shock, anger and killer intent.

"You can get help from your hosts and Partners and whomever you choose but we must not be able to tell who pulled the prank. Also, no help

from us or our hosts. This is your mission."

"Are you guys INSANE?!" Sakura shouted. "It's FOUR in the bloody MORNING!"

The older seasons just smirked and vanished in a puff of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was standing in the middle of it, blinking.

"What? What I miss?"

This was going to be a long week.

**(I am a Naruto page break. Believe it!)**

After the morning fiasco, we'd all gone back to bed.

I slept soundly, even managing not to set fire to the leaves above my bed.

I was having a wonderful dream...a Ms Ramen beauty pageant. Seriously, ramen and BOOBS! It was like, the best of both worlds!

And just when I was getting ready to crown the smoking hot Miss Ramen and earn both her and myself a lifetime supply of noodlely goodness-

"WAKE UP!"

"Genma, dont make me kill you."

I opened my eyes and stared at Genma who, for some reason, had a bottle of lotion and a condom in his hands.

I thumped him and promptly fell off my bed.

"What the-"

"Now, now Naruto. No need to freak out. I'm just here to run a few tests."

"Tests?"

He nodded, running his hand where I'd punched him and said, "You see Naruto, every gay person comes equiped with a weapon..."

Wow. Three seconds into the conversation and I was already itching to throw him out a window.

"...The infamous...GAYDAR. Many straight people think they have this special power but-" he chuckled. "they are sorely mistaken, the fools."

I sighed, "Write down what you have to say and when I wake up, I'll look at it, pretend to care and toss it in with the rubbish."

"You're so mean."

"Don't you have some other straight guy to bother?"

"Not right now."

"Please go away."

"But..."

"What?" I ground out.

"It's noon. You're supposed to go out and meet the old Partners."

"Thanks. I'll pass."

"But they are awesomely powerful and dont take kindly to waiting...or being stood up."

I snorted.

"Don't make that sound. It's rude."

"I should hope so. It was a snort of derision."

Ten minutes, one butt grope and two black eyes later, I was standing outside the castle glaring at Genma who now closely resembled a panda...

"Welcome!"

I never feel welcome when Jiraiya says that.

I looked at the other three.

Sasuke was dressed in a blue tshirt and black jeans with blue reeboks, looking broody as I assume is his nature. Hinata was in brown cargo

shorts, a plain black tshirt and striped converses. Sakura however, was in those girly shorts that reached mid-thigh...as well as a frilly red top and

pink pumps.

I've never seen anything so girlie.

I on the other hand, was in blue jeans, a black tshirt and white air jordans.

Yuukimaru entered the room and stood at the door like a guard.

"I'll make this quick," Jiraiya started. "You four will be taken to the kraal where the old partners will make their appearance and you'll be lectured

on how to get close to your partners who will be presented to you this evening. However, to do this, not all of us are needed and so, we'll each

give you a reason to pick us on your excursion and the rest can go on with their lives."

I rolled my eyes.

The bastard just didnt want to do it.

"Pick two and let the rest of us go," Anko clarified, proving that this was indeed a task none of them wanted.

So...we got to decide?

Cool.

Orochimaru stood and faced us.

"I will not be here."

With that, he left...and we DECIDED that his choice was best.

Ibiki glared at us all, "Choose me. I will give you the right to breathe, the right to blink and if you earn it, the right to pick your nose."

"Um...no?" Hinata paled.

Ibiki shrugged and left.

Jiraiya stood and said, "The art of the pervert is a great-"

"No."

He scowled at Sakura before stomping away. I was almost led to believe he WANTED to stay.

Next was Kabuto.

He adjusted his glasses and smiled warmly at us.

"I will teach you the art of merciless deaths...and how to clean your deadly weapons like the humble scythe."

"Scythe?" Sasuke asked.

I was confused too.

A scythe was hardly the choice of weaponry in age old wars...unless you counted peasant revolts.

Or death.

Death definately used a scythe.

Kabuto ignored Sasuke but kept his smile in place.

Sakura sighed, "No. We're just meeting the partners. We're not trying to kill them."

Tsunade and Shizune looked at us and walked away. Tsunade with a beer and Shizune with a pig.

Uh...

"What's with the pig?"

"Bacon?" Hinata suggested.

Shizune turned around and gave us a dirty look.

That left us with Kakashi and Anko.

Oh well...

Could have been worse.

I hadn't seen Genma sticking around so maybe there was hope.

Anko sighed and glared at Yuukimaru.

"You mean me and Kakashi are stuck with them for the Partnership thing?"

"Don't call it a 'thing'," Yuukimaru admonished.

Kakashi scowled, "But-"

"It's already been decided," Yuukimaru smirked.

Kakashi looked at Anko, his eyes pleading for her to find a way out.

"I have a solution!" she pulled a large bottle of wine from her trenchcoat. "DRINK!"

I hadn't noticed a bulge there before which led me to believe that maybe it was a super power of hers or a magic coat or something. Which could

mean...

"Anko, do you have some ramen in there somewhere?"

She looked at me like I'd asked something completely retarded and I said, "This can be blamed on your finding alcohol as a solution. Are you even

a real shrink?"

She nodded and took a swig.

I wondered how Hinata could manage all their madness and not want to escape already.

We walked away from the orchard and grounds.

I heard groaning and turned, seeing something strange at the other end of the lawn.

"Um...Does anyone else see the dragon on the lawn?"

I take it they all thought that with how tired and frustrated I probably was, I was something of a unique misinterpretor (i.e. liar).

I stayed a second longer before seeing the mighty beast...er...

Longing desperately to get that image out of my head, I hurried forward, following the others who were following Anko and Kakashi.

We got to the kraal and waited.

The animals I'd seen the other day werent here and it was quiet.

Normally, I LIKE quiet, but now...

The ground began to shake and we stared at it uneasily as our feet started to slip.

There was a great roar and we waited for the awesome beast to appear and, moments later, just as I feared the ground was about to open up

and kill us all... There it was.

A toad.

A regular sized toad... One that could easily fit in my hand.

Well... It was orange which I'm not completely sure is IRREGULAR for a toad.

If it wasnt for the flat ground, I probably wouldn't have even seen it.

The ground had stopped shaking and I couldnt believe all THAT had happened...cause of a bloody average toad.

Still, I'm impressed Sakura didn't faint.

She seemed like the kind to point and squeal out, "Gross!"... or daintily faint...or one after the other, maybe she could even do both at the same

time.

Hinata and Sasuke looked just as disappointed as me but Sakura...well...she...

Oh my gosh! She picked it up!

"This is a partner?" she asked doubtfully.

Anko chuckled. "No, that's Jiraiya's partners great-great-great-great grandson."

Sakura then noticed my eyes on her and she sighed.

"What?"

"You're holding a toad."

"Yeah?"

"You're not screaming, squealing or fainting."

"Your point...?"

"Are sure you're not a guy?"

The blow I received relieved me of some necessary brain cells.

"What the hell?!"

Before I could take note of what I was doing, I had her hand twisted at her back, not painfully but firmly.

"Naruto!"

I didn't hear Hinata and vaguely realized that Sasuke looked like he was trying to reach me but couldn't quite come that near.

"Don't EVER hit me. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded slowly and I released her.

Anko was staring at me with the slightest bit of curiosity.

I felt a small pang of shame as I felt the others' eyes on me.

Maybe I should apologize to Sakura-

"I'm sorry," she said.

I blinked.

Sakura was staring at the ground...or my shoes, one of the two.

"No, I shouldn't have-"

She looked up and I met jade eyes.

"I shouldn't have hit you. Its not like we know each other well anyway."

I smirked, "Cause if we did, pummeling me would be okay...?"

She smiled and put out her hand.

I took it and we shook.

This seemed like a really immature moment...and kind of reminded me of Disney movies.

When did I get so lame?

She was smiling sweetly at me.

"I grew up on a ranch. Toads are nothing."

"How do you feel about snakes?" Anko asked silkily.

Sakura gulped and took an uneasy step back.

Sasuke remained where he was, now staring out at the kraal.

I'd almost forgotten about the toad.

It was in the grass by Sakura's feet.

"I am Shiki."

Okay...the toad spoke to us...no big deal, nope...not at-

"IT JUST TALKED!" Sakura shouted, kicking the poor thing away.

It landed gracefully and threw her a glare.

"I am not an 'it', I am a male summons. And please refrain from kicking me."

"Summons?"

"Means the same as Partner. The partners call our contracts with them a Summons contract," Anko explained, taking a swig from a wine glass that

I was sure hadn't been there before.

It was then that we noticed something.

Kakashi wasn't here.

Anko suddenly noticed it too.

"THAT LAZY BASTARD!" Anko screamed. "I'LL RIP OFF HIS ROUND TABLES AND BARBECUE HIS SAUSAGE!"

You gotta admire her use of euphemisms...

When Anko calmed down, still seething...but somewhat calm, she grumpily stated, "This is taking too long. Shiki, call the Partners."

Shiki snorted, "What am I, your messenger boy?"

"My future wallet if you keep giving me lip.."

Shiki gulped and vanished in a tiny puff of smoke.

Seconds later, there was another rumbling from the ground and we all just wondered why the hell such a tiny thing had to make an entrance. It

was embarrassing.

That was before we all stumbled backward and fell (gracefully in my case) on our asses.

Because before us were four giants.

An orange toad with green patches that closely resembled Shiki, a gray slug, a black snake and a green dragon.

I thought I heard a small whimper and PRAYED that it had been someone else who had made it.

"HEY! YOU POMPOUS ARSES ARE LATE!"

We stared in horror as the beasts glanced down at Anko who was shaking a drunken fist at them.

This would probably be the last time we saw her.

I just hoped they didn't take us with her... I hadn't packed the necessary clothing for the afterlife.

"Anko!"

The toad's tongue flicked out, wrapped itself around Anko's waist and pulled her up to it's eyelevel.

Thankfully, the others all looked at her and I could make a subtle check on my underwear (again, DRY!) and try slowly backing away.

The others apparently had the same idea as the dragon growled, "Freeze."

We stopped, all with one leg in the air.

"Ah, brings back memories," the toad said, chuckling lightly as he watched us try to hold our breath and hyperventilate at the same time.

I briefly wondered how it could speak when its tongue was preoccupied with holding onto Anko who was trying, in vain, to pummel it.

"So...you are the next generation..." the slug talked pretty fast...for a slug.

The only one who hadn't spoken was the giant snake, a black shiny king cobra.

"Calm down, Anko."

The snake had spoken, and its voice sent shivers down my spine.

Anko pouted but obeyed.

The snakes tail came up and took her from the toad's tongue.

"You did not miss being home, I presume?"

Anko snorted, as she glared as the snake, "Wow Manda, how perceptive of you."

Manda hissed and I thought he'd kill her until I noticed it was apparently his way of laughing.

"You always were abit of a child."

"A-a CHILD!" Anko shrieked. "Why you-"

She let loose a string of words I'd previously never heard, but was sure had to be insults, and I figured the snake must have a soft spot for her

cause if I even said those things to a squirrel, I'd probably die a cute, furry death.

The snake put Anko down when she ran out of steam and then, all the attention was back on us.

Damn.

They looked at us intently and I suddenly felt hot.

"The boy..." Manda hissed.

Please let him be talking about Sasuke...

This thought was quickly shot to pieces as a scaly tail coiled around me and lifted me.

My underwear status is now unknown.

"Autumn."

"Naruto," I corrected automatically.

The beasts laughed at me and the dragon said, "His chakra..."

From up here, the dragon looked kinda familiar. I was sure I'd seen it somewhere...

Wait...he'd said something about chakra...

"What happened to your shield boy?"

I looked at the snake blankly.

"The tree gave you gifts, did it not?"

I nodded.

"Why is your shield down?"

The toad grabbed Anko and pulled her up, placing her on his head before reaching down with its tongue and wrapping it around Sasuke and

bringing him up to my level.

Anko sighed, "What's wrong?"

The toad answered, "It's early but Autumn has already disarmed his shield. Has he been in contact with Summer or Winter?"

I frowned, vaguely remembering that I shouldn't be able to touch those two...but I'd just grabbed Sakura...

"He twisted Summers arm," Anko said.

"Not painfully!" I protested, trying to prolong my life.

The snake nodded.

"This is good."

I blinked.

"Huh?"

The toad chuckled, "It means...one of your abilities is to overcome barriers. Shields, forcefields, fortresses..."

"Why am I up here?"

We all turned to face Sasuke who seemed to be annoyed at being wrapped in toad tongue.

"Because, from what I can tell, your chakra is pulsing."

"Explain that in English."

Wow...the dude must have a death wish.

Manda simply laughed, "It means that your ability, your gift from The Tree, is to form impenetrable barriers."

Ah...so that was why he couldn't touch me when trying to get me to let Sakura go...

"These are unconsciously done but in time you'll learn to control them," the slug said.

"Uh...excuse me?" I said loudly.

They faced me.

"I don't want to be a Season."

They were silent for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing.

"You've been hanging around Anko huh?"

Anko scowled at them and said, "The kids pretty sharp to know he shouldn't want to be here."

This silenced the partners and I was left with an uneasy feeling.

It was getting hotter by the second for some reason.

The dragon growled and I raised an eyebrow at it.

Then it clicked.

It was the dragon I'd seen on the lawn earlier.

"I know you!"

The dragon just snorted and Sasuke and I were placed next to Hinata and Sakura who looked relieved that we hadn't been killed.

"Introductions are necessary I suppose," Anko said and I wondered why she suddenly seemed sober and where the wine has disappeared to.

"Manda...the snake boss summons."

The snake bowed low.

"Gamabunta... The toad boss summons."

"Ceres, the slug boss summons."

The dragon looked mighty uncomfortable for some reason...

"...and Peaches, the dragon boss summons."

I couldn't help the snort that escaped.

I mean..._**PEACHES**_?!

I laughed long and hard, ignoring the fact that the other three were silent in reverence of the mighty Peaches.

I was suddenly wrapped in a scaly tail that wasn't as smooth as Manda's and I scowled as he flew up into the air with me.

"Whoa! Dragon! What's your deal?"

"I demand your respect."

I snorted, "Look, you may be big and scary and all...but I saw you take a dump on the lawn. Respect isn't exactly in a hurry to get here. Also..."

"What?" he growled.

"Well...'Peaches' isn't the most respectful name around."

"It's that damn Kakashi!"

I nodded sympathetically, "You should have eaten him or something, before the name stuck."

"I was on dragon milk at the time."

"Ah. Too bad then... Could we go back down now?"

I had the sneaking suspicion he was tempted to just drop me but he seemed to fight it and flew back down.

"Is there a problem Peaches?" Ceres asked, amused.

"No," Peaches growled.

"Um..."

"Oh," Peaches sighed, putting me down abit too hard.

I stumbled but caught myself and glared at him.

"Our human Partners name us when we're presented to them," Peaches said slowly.

Hinata grinned, "So...we're given...like puppies..."she looked at them again and added. "Or eggs?"

Ceres laughed, "Don't worry. Whatever is in the egg would already be hatched by the time you're given them..."

"I'M HERE!"

Oh no.

"Crap," Anko sighed.

Genma bounded over and as he made to jump onto me, I stepped to the side and he kissed dirt.

"Thats mean."

I ignored him as he got up and told Anko Kakashi had sent him as something important had come up.

As Anko ranted, Genma turned to Sasuke who cocked an eyebrow.

"YOU are DEFINATELY gay. Who styles your hair?"

Sasuke then showed more emotion than I'd ever seen as he scowled and punched Genma- hard.

"Allow me to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket... When I say I am not gay, I do infact mean that I am not gay...hell, I COULD be gay but in

the unlikely event that I am, I would not be gay FOR YOU."

Genma blinked then-

"Sorry, did you say something? I wasn't listening. Now seriously, what kind of gel do you use...its amazing. Your hair stays still and yet moves

when a breeze blows..."

Sasuke growled in frustration and moved away.

I was please to note that I wasn't the only one suffering at the hand of stupidity that was Genma.

Did he think EVERYONE was gay?

"Why are you here Genma?" Gamabunta asked.

"I'm here to explain things!" he turned to us. "Seasons and partners work together like a gun and bullet."

We stared at him blankly and he shrugged.

"Basically, you bust a cap in evil's ass."

"Charming," Ceres said.

"I dont know why we can't just eat him," Manda said to Peaches who nodded sadly.

Genma smirked, "Cause I'm awesome!"

They ignored him and Ceres spoke, "You'll be presented your partners in a few hours. Each one of us will choose you a partner as was done for

the former Seasons by our presceding partners..."

I was really hot now...

Ceres continued to talk but I couldn't here him clearly.

"I'm a girl Naruto."

I laughed at that, thinking I was hallucinating as Ceres didn't LOOK like a girl...

Laughing was a mistake.

Now, I couldn't breathe.

My insides were on fire and I couldn't breathe.

"Naruto?"

The colours were all blurring and coming into sharp contrast.

It would make a pretty abstract picture.

"Naruto!"

I wonder if Iruka would mind bringing my sketch book from home.

"Naru-"

It was too hot...

The last thing I saw was Sasuke leaning over me and grabbing my arm.

The hear went away- but it was replaced by freezing cold- which was much, MUCH worse.

I fell into darkness thinking one thing.

'Bastard'.

**(I am a Rebel page break. I REFUSE to break this page)**

Mmm...Ramen...

I slowly returned to the land of the living and noticed something.

It was warm... Not uncomfortable...just- perfect.

I opened my eyes and blinked.

Hinata was sitting by me.

We were in a room with lots of couches and lounge chairs. Everything was black and white, even the walls.

"Where are we?"

"A room in Year."

I nodded but not before hearing a slight sniffing sound.

Hinata smiled, "That's Blaze. My partner."

I blinked as I looked down and saw a black dog with a white streak along its side.

It looked up and my first thought was, 'That's no dog.'

It's eyes were a piercing silver, much like Hinata's.

"He's a wolf."

"Cool."

She smiled lightly, "You missed the presentation, what with being unconscious and all. We got ours by the kraals."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I thought there'd be like, some big ceremony or a party or something but it was pretty ordinary. Disappointing, really. The old partners just

poofed away and poofed back with our partners and gave them to us."

"No brouhaha?"

"None whatsoever... Although Gamabunta DID get tired of Genma and ate him."

"REALLY?"

"Yes...but then, sadly, he spat him back out."

"Why?!"

"Said he didn't know where he'd been."

"Wasn't it abit late for that?"

"One would assume so. Anyway...your partner's being brought in by Jiraiya instead of Gamabunta. Peaches chose Blaze for me."

I nodded and heard movement behind me.

"You're awake."

I turned and looked up at Sakura and Sasuke.

"Yeah."

"Tsunade said we should all stay in this room till you wake up and get your partner."

I nodded again, "Sorry."

They shrugged.

"What happened?" I asked.

Before anyone could answer, the door was thrown open.

"Ah, you're awake."

Tsunade came in followed closely by Jiraiya.

She sat by me after having shooed Hinata away.

"How are you feeling?"

I shrugged, "Okay."

She nodded, "That would be because of Hinata. Your chakra is similar so I asked her to stay by you."

My blank face must have said 'huh?' cause Tsunade sighed and said, "The Partners said they explained about your barrier penetration ability."

I nodded.

"Well, it seems your own barrier is down. You see, the reason chakra is one of the first gifts is so you can be in your own perfect environment. But

seeing as how you seem to have lowered your shield, you absorbed part of Sakura's and were burning up. Am I right?"

I nodded.

"If Sasuke hadn't touched you, you'd probably have gone into a coma until your body re-adjusted."

I gaped.

"Wha-?"

She patted my cheek, "You'll understand soon."

"If we're done with the medical psychobabble," Jiraiya grinned. "I'd like to introduce your new partner..."

I smiled... I was almost (ALMOST) excited.

"...but first, meet the others."

He motioned to Sasuke and Sakura.

I looked at them and froze.

At Sasuke's feet was a big snake, staring warily up at me.

By Sakura however, there was a slug that reached her knees in height.

"My snake is Siam."

"Kirin," Sakura said, meaning the name of her slug.

"So..." I turned back to Jiraiya. "Peaches decided to give Hinata a wolf instead of a dragon?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"You can team up with the old partners if needed, but only until your own are fully grown."

"You mean...they'll be gigantic too?" Hinata asked, looking fondly at Blaze who was trying to catch his tail.

"Yes. But they can control their size once that stage is reached. Also, each of you will be able to speak to and understand their own partner...but

until they fully mature, you'll be the only ones who can hear them."

"So, they'll talk out loud only when they mature?"

"Yup."

"So we can't go around talking to them or we'll look like total prats?" Hinata said dryly.

"Yup."

"So...his partner?" Tsunade prompted Jiraiya, pointing at me.

"Oh," he coughed and straightened up.

I sat up expectantly.

"Yours is a rare and mighty beast."

Okay, NOW I'm excited.

He then held out his hand.

I stared at the red-gold ball of fluff in his palm.

It stared back.

I looked up at Jiraiya.

"Um...what is it?"

He grinned and took my hand, putting it in my reluctant palm, "It's a nine-tailed fox."

I stared at its butt.

Nope, no tails at all.

"They come out gradually until its three years old."

I nodded slowly and the kit in my hand lifted its leg and peed.

On my hand.

My brain was telling me to squish it.

Common sense was telling me...well, common sense was agreeing with my brain.

That's a first.

I glared at it, wondering if I could skin it and make REALLY SMALL gloves...

This is the part where there's a little devil on my shoulder encouraging me to go into the frowned upon ritual of animal murder.

As I wondered where the angel was, you know, the one supposed to be on my other shoulder telling me about right and wrong and how killing

fluffy little animals is downright evil...the mini-devil told me the mini-angel was in hospital nursing its ass. Apparently mini-devil had shoved

something unmentionable up there before showing up.

Poor angel dude.

I turned my eyes back to the ball of fuzz.

I huffed and it yipped happily.

"Uh...it's the thought that counts?" Tsunade offered.

"Shame its such a horrible thought," Sasuke said, peering down at the thing in my hand.

We stared at him. Hinata, Tsunade, Jiraiya and I stared because it was the first thing he'd said that sounded...normal. Sakura because...well...I

think she just maybe LIKED staring at him.

I placed the fox kit in my other hand where it did that dog thing where it spun round and round before curling up and sleeping.

Darn animal.

Now I had to watch both my hands.

"It's really kinda cute," Sakura said as she looked down at it with a soft smile.

Hinata nodded and laughed when Blaze sniffed the fox, decided it was of no importance and stalked away to sniff other things.

"So, what are you gonna call it?" Jiraiya asked, still excited, placing a tiny biscuit in my hand which the fox licked at.

I sighed.

I guess I should at least give it a name...

It stared up at me expectantly and I got the creepy sensation that it KNEW what I was doing.

Furball?

Nope, too obvious.

"Red?"

He...shook his head.

I smirked.

"Kit?"

This time, he **glared **at me.

Aw...he's actually kinda cute.

"Kyuubi."

He seemed to mull this over, then turned back to his food, dismissing me.

I guess 'Kyuubi' had been approved by his furry majesty.

Needless to say, dinner was weird as the hosts cooed and petted my partner.

Kiba came up to me and elbowed my side lightly, "It's not THAT bad..."

"Could you please be quiet while I wallow in misery?"

Kiba thought this over.

"No?"

I growled at him- as did my 'partner' and thus, the desired effect was lost on him as he and Hinata cooed and squealed like fangirls in their prime.

I scowled at Kyuubi. "You just HAD to be cute didnt you?"

I couldn't escape fast enough and hurried to my room with the fox kit in my hand.

In the sanctity of my room, I placed it on my bed, worried I'd step on it if I put it on the floor.

The furball moved about and finally curled up on my pillow.

I sighed.

"Pee on that and I promise you a swift death."

He just yawned.

"Tenacious bastard."

He giggled.

I rolled my eyes and whispered to the powers that be, "Please don't let it speak. Ever."

I looked at the spoon I'd sneaked into my coat at dinner.

If this didn't work out, I'd learn that barrier thing and walk out the gates.

For now, I walked into the bathroom and stabbed at the tiles that seemed weaker here than those in the rest of the room (where I'd probably

have to spoon through the carpet as well).

After ten minutes and no dent on the tiles, I put the now bent spoon away.

Maybe I'd need a fork as well...

-

**A/N: Yo.  
**

**Sorry for the delay. I had alot to deal with. My bro tried to kill himself, I had tests coming up...and...well, there's alot going on.  
**

**Also, I know this chapter kinda sucked but...well...um... Nope, no excuse for that one :(**


	5. Suna Part Three: Dreams

**The Four Seasons**

by Rizember

-

**Suna part II: Dreams**

**-**

**Beta'd by:** [UnBeta'd]

-

**A/N: I notice other authors are using page breaks like mine...& sometimes making up their own...and I must say, its bloody callous to steal **

**someones idea and shamelessly use it without permission, a mention or at least a heads up.****  
**

**I'm nice so I'm doing my ranting here and on my profile...but I could start flaming seeing as how majorly pissed I am. (Okay...maybe I won't. **

**But I might send some pissed PMs)****  
**

**To these people: Damn it, GET SOME BLOODY ORIGINAL IDEAS OF YOUR OWN! It's not hard. Just try using some grey matter.****  
**

**Sheesh.****  
**

**To those who have my permission *sweet voice*: y'all are darling... (^_^)****  
**

**-**

**French Disclaimer:** I own lé nothing.

-

Another night, another sleepless endeavour.

I was tired of staring at the leaves but getting up and leaving Autumn hall didn't particularly strike my fancy.

I got the idea I'd have to save someone from some large animal or end up cleaning Year.

Beside me, Kyuubi was fast asleep and snoring softly.

How was I supposed to protect the world with a partner like _this_?

Maybe the bad guys would DIE from petting him and cooing...or they'd show up all scary and stuff and Kyuubi would let out a cute little growl... I

don't think letting enemies die from laughter is an honorable way to fight.

Maybe I could have Manda eat Kyuubi and then-

Nah, he'd probably be pulled in by the cuteness.

When I sighed for what felt like the millionth time, the leaves attacked.

I say 'attacked' because that is _exactly_ what the little buggers did.

They swooped down and lifted me off the bed, delicately dropping me on my ass- again.

I glared at them.

"_WHAT_?!"

The next thing I knew, I was being lifted again, carried and dropped in my closet where they proceeded to pick my clothes and shoes and throw

them on me.

"You want me to leave?" I asked.

They swirled around and I wondered if that was a yes. I don't speak 'leaf' but decided yes was a safe bet.

I didn't want to stay anyway.

I dressed and headed out, maturely sticking my tongue out at the leaves as I did so.

Stepping into the hall, I nearly bumped into Shikamaru, who seemed to be waiting at my door seeing as how it was the last one in the hallway.

"Hey."

"Hey," I answered.

"Your leaves kicked you out too?" he asked.

I gave him a ridiculous look and added a snort for good measure, "Like I'd get kicked out by a bunch of LEAVES."

He smirked knowingly and I ignored him.

We heard grunts and **_loud_** swears a few doors from mine and stared.

A second later, the door was thrown open and leaves carried Kiba out and dumped him onto the floor.

A little white dog came out, yipping cutely at the leaves.

They apparently understood whatever it was the little dog was saying and threw a shoe at Kiba's head, smacking him square in the face.

Shika and I took this in and then he asked, "Where's Kyuubi?"

"Sleeping."

He nodded and we turned back to look at Kiba who was swearing as he put his shoes on.

Akamaru was now jumping up and down, trying to catch the leaves floating in the hallway in his mouth.

Kiba's door was slammed and he got up hurriedly and started pounding on it.

"Open the door! DAMMIT I SWEAR I WILL SET YOU ALL ON FIRE, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING KINDLING!"

"Kindling?" Shika looked amused.

I felt for Kiba. Like mine, his leaves were absolute bastards.

Shika stifled a yawn and walked forward, pulling Kiba away from the door (which he'd started kicking), and leading us out.

When we got to the dining hall, the state of the others was pretty amusing.

Sakura, Ino and Lee and looked both tanned and sunburnt...at least Lee had a smile on his face.

Hinata, Temari and Tenten were drenched and the Winter guys were all covered in snow, making me wonder what exactly their wings looked like.

I was suddenly glad to have my own wing only having leaves which, really, are hardly deadly things to have...unless they're suddenly inclined to

toss me out a window.

"Yo."

Okay...NOW I know something is TERRIBLY wrong.

Kakashi was here first...which either meant the others weren't coming...or he was early and the end of the world was at hand.

"Naruto? What are you doing?"

"Staring off into space...?"

"Ah. Carry on."

I wondered if we'd perish like the dinosaurs...or ramen within my vicinity. Personally, I think the dinosaurs had it easy. With my ramen, there are

no survivors...

"Morning all."

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru walked in, all looking like they were ready to take on the day, all followed by their own hosts.

Gosh I hate morning people.

"What's with you guys and pre-dawn wake up calls?" Hinata grumbled.

"We just love seeing you all bright and early."

Dunno where the 'bright' was, but it certainly was _early_.

Jiraiya smiled, "Yuukimaru."

Yuukimaru came in carrying a tray with 12 steaming mugs, setting each one in front of each of us.

"Hot chocolate?" Hinata visibly perked up.

"Guren."

Sakura scowled, "Guren?"

"It's a drink. It'll warm you up."

I looked at it suspiciously. "I'm not cold."

It was green and smelled **awful**- like sweaty socks and other assorted gym items.

"Drink it," Ibiki ordered.

I glared, "_You_ drink it."

"No."

"Then why should I?"

"You're supposed to."

"Tough."

It looked thick and exactly like the kind of thing you found in dark, murky swamps.

"Is it_ suposed_ to smell this bad?"

The others looked at me funny, like theirs smelled like peaches or something.

I peered in the cup.

"Is this another prank?"

Jiraiya laughed, "It would be a great one, wouldn't it? But no, it's not."

"Are you trying to punish me for something? Or kill me?"

"No."

The others all lifted their cups and drank.

Yeah well...sucks for them.

"Naruto."

"I am _not_ touching that."

The others looked at me with slight amusement and slight irritation.

I didn't care.

It smelled terrible.

"Drink it."

When did Ibiki get behind me?

Why was he holding my neck?

Hmmm...

Jiraiya was lifting my glass to my lips and-

A bubble escaped from the thick green liquid.

That was **so** not getting in me.

I shoved myself back against Ibiki and kicked Jiraiya, hard.

"OW!"

The shocking thing is how he managed to fall and not drop the glass, catching it cleanly before it felt to the ground and broke.

I tried to elbow Ibiki.

Not the best of ideas. I think I broke my elbow. He must have abs of steel or something.

Grabbing my body, he lay me on the table and seconds later, I was gasping, sputtering and trying mightily to wretch the sewage he'd managed to

get down my throat.

"That's DISGUSTING!"

Why the hell had the others just drunk theirs like it was nothing this foul?

I shivered involuntarily and said quietly, "I'll kill you."

Ibiki smirked and Jiraiya smiled uneasily, "You're talking to Ibiki right?"

I sniffed, "You said it would warm me up."

"Not instantly."

I was suddenly drowsy and just _knew_ Genma had spiked my drink with something... I wouldn't put it past him. Even if I hadn't seen him yet...

My eyes started to droop and I heard Orochimaru speak.

"So it's him, huh? Interesting."

"Naruto, listen to me," Jiraiya said hurriedly. "I need you to just relax. You've taken a potion that should help us find out something very important.

You must remember **everything** you see in your dream. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"You did this on _purpose_? You asshole! I'll freaking kill y-"

"Yeah, yeah..."

If my arm hadn't already gone numb, I'd have punched his lights out and stomped on the bulbs.

Why the hell didn't they just say that?

Why'd they always have to trick me into doing things?

Sneaky bastards.

-----

It was a weird kind of dream. One where you wonder what the hell you had for dinner and swear to never eat it again.

It was strange though, that I was perfectly aware it was a dream.

I was surrounded by the four partners- our partners.

Kyuubi, Blaze, Kirin and Siam... All deathly still, like statues.

Kyuubi looked minuscule next to the others and I was glad no one was around to say how 'cute' he was.

Someone coughed and I turned.

Damn. Maybe they wouldn't notice the small red ball of fluff on the ground.

A short distance away stood a cloaked figure- their white cloak had red and gold flames coming up from the hem, making it look like it had caught fire.

"They are going to die."

His voice sounded familiar and I was sure I knew him from somewhere.

But...he'd said someone was going to die... Well... we all gotta go sometime right?

"Did you hear me? They are going to-"

"Where did you get that coat?"

Even though he turned and his face remained in the shadow of his hooded cloak, I could tell he had a 'WTF?!' look on his face.

He sighed and said, "The Summer and Winter Partners are going to die."

I blinked.

"You mean the slug and the snake? Weren't they born like, yesterday?"

Mr. Cloak just sighed again. "I'm getting the impression you're not taking this seriously."

"I'm picking up on that too."

"Listen. To. Me."

"I am. But...where am I? This is a dream, right?"

"No."  
"Really? Are you sure? Jiraiya said-"

"Don't you know _anything_?"

"Depends. About what?"

"You're frustrating."

"And you're not being very helpful."

He sat down in a chair that suddenly appeared and I asked, "Why are the partners surrounding me?"

"Because you're the only one who can hear all of them. A partners bond to their season is like a private barrier and because of your ability, you can

overcome that and communicate with any partner."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Yes 'oh'. Were you expecting an excited speech or something?"

Mr. Cloak smacked his forehead.

"You should relax," I smirked. "Now, explain this dead slug and snake situation."

He leaned back in his chair with a defeated sigh.

"When a partner dies, a Season is weakened considerably. Worst case scenario, they fall into a coma, leaving the world somewhat unprotected...

You _do_ know what Seasons protect the world from?"

I nodded, suddenly feeling the seriousness of this...whatever this was.

"Demons."

They were the reason I hated the seasons, the reason I never wanted to become one.

Demons were frightening beasts as large as, and sometimes larger than, the matured Partners.

They often attacked and levelled cities and it was a Season's duty to kill them.

My duty now, apparently.

"A demon can kill a partner..." he continued. "A demon rider can do it too."

"Demon rider?"

"Like a Season, but evil."

"Oh, of course... So... what does all this have to do with me?"

"Stop the partners from dying. The first attempt will be by the weeks end, when your powers start kicking in and are unsteady."

"What happens if we fail?"

"Then the Seasons will all be killed. Both your generation and the previous one."

"So...no pressure?"

He chuckled. "None."

"Ha. Funny."

"Go now."

I stared.

"Go where?"

But everything was becoming blurry and I couldn't breathe.

My eyes shot open and I gasped.

Seeing all the faces around me, I flinched.

"Is this some cannibalistic ritual?"

Jiraiya sighed, "What did you see?"

"A bunch of assholes who made me drink blended garbage."

"I meant in the dream."

"The same."

"Naruto..."

"Why am I on the table?"

Jiraiya let out a frustrated sigh and said, "I'm getting the impression you're not taking this seriously."

I blinked, "Hm. That's what he said..."

Everyone seemed to perk up.

"Him?"

I nodded, "The guy in my dream."

"You were dreaming about some guy?" Sasuke smirked.

"Yes. And he wants your ass."

"Wha-"

"Be serious Naruto," Anko sighed. "What happened?"

And so I explained everything that I'd dreamed.

By the end, Sasuke and Sakura were considerably pale (guess her tan didn't last too long).

"The end of the week?" Orochimaru asked.

I nodded.

"That doesn't give us much time."

"Time to...?" Sakura asked, trying to calm herself.

"Prepare for battle of course."

I'm pretty sure that no one expected battle this early.

Hell, we hadn't even gotten most of our powers yet.

"You may go," Jiraiya said to me dismissively.

I'd have argued but I was terribly tired.

I got off the table and walked away, taking no heed of the sudden exhaustion that came.

**(I am a girly page break. Does this make my butt look big?)**

A ball of red was on my nose- apparently asleep.

I removed it from the vicinity of my person and placed it back on its pillow.

Lying back down, I frowned.

I looked at my clock and scowled.

Is there something in this place that doesn't want me to sleep?

Just as I was starting to count imaginary super sheep (the kind that don't jump over a fence but hurdle tall buildings with a mighty 'baa'), a siren

went off.

Even though it sounded like a fire alarm, how the hell was I supposed to get up? If a fire was in say, Winter's hall, there'd be no reason for me to get

up... Unless the fire spread.

Until I smelled smoke, I would _not_ move from this spot.

My door was thrown open and Shikamaru, Jiraiya and Yuukimaru ran in.

Jiraiya was holding a bat again but said firmly, "We're under attack. Get dressed. Be quiet."

Before I could move, Yuukimaru had somehow thrown me a pair of jeans, a jumper and sneakers.

I wore them hurriedly and followed Jiraiya out, not asking any questions cause of his ealier command.

We ran out of Year and away from the castle.

I was amazed at the destruction around us.

The grass and trees were burning and I could feel tremors from the ground as I heard explosions in the distance- in the direction we were headed.

We passed the Accountants building, headed for the kraal and kept running.

The others were in front of us, all moving in a blur, leaving me with no idea of what was going on or what I was supposed to do.

A dark shadow blocked out the moon temporarily and we stopped, looking up.

Something bright was headed our way.

'Aw come on!'

That was my last thought before it hit.

I remember falling to the ground and waiting for the heat to ease up from my body.

When I finally got up...I stilled.

Everyone had been thrown across the grounds.

None of them were moving.

Near me, lay the other seasons.

But I was struck with the feeling of how familiar this all was. And of how sure I was that all around me...they were dead.

Everyone was dead.

My head pounded and I clutched at my stomach, feeling weak.

I sank to the ground and barely heard anyone.

Everyone was dead.

And I hadn't been able to do a single thing to stop it.

My palms rested flat on the ground and I felt something on my shoulder.

I don't remember what happened next.

I was mad.

Those demons... I was sure it was them.

Those bastards...always killing without a second thought- as if they decided to on a whim.

_'I hate them.'_

"Naruto!"

A felt something pulse on the ground and ignored it.

I wanted to do something...to be able to take everything back...

I wanted to kill the demons.

Something pulsed again.

I felt my chest burn and remembered with slight surprise that I hadn't taken off my amulet. In all the time I'd been here- I still had it on.

It was scorching but I didn't mind. It didn't hurt.

Suddenly, there was silence.

I felt it more than heard it and I raised my head.

There, in front of me, was a dragon.

It was bright red and menacing.

On its back was someone in an all black cloak.

I heard them chuckle and I stood.

"You're still alive."

I wondered what the hell he was on about and looked behind me.

Hinata and Sakura were on the ground, motionless and Sasuke was struggling to get up.

Had we been attacked by him?

"That was quite the shield, Winter."

Winter? Sasuke had made a shield around us?

I hadn't noticed anything.

I looked at Sasuke but he was glaring at the rider.

"I guess I'll just finish you off now."

You know how fairy tales have dragons breathing fire?

Well, they aren't just fairy tales.

But it wasn't so much breathing fire at us than it was blasting a ball of flaming death.

Sasuke stretched his hands and I could barely make out the silver transparent shield that formed, covering us.

Then the ball hit.

The next few seconds seemed unreal as he stood his ground.

Finally, both the flames and the shield melted away and Sasuke collapsed.

"One more."

I turned back to the rider.

Funny how he could kill so effortlessly... I actually felt the slightest bit of admiration.

"Fire."

The dragon took in a deep breath and I waited.

My brain was screaming bloody murder, saying how it was too young to die and how it hadn't been used enough...

I told it to shut the hell up.

"Naruto..."

Sasuke was still alive.

He was trying to get up to protect me- again.

I stood in front of him and whispered harshly, "Stay down you fool."

Before I could do anything vaguely heroic (vague because I hadn't the foggiest idea what the hell I SHOULD do), a large red fox was standing in front

of me, with its back to me, growling at the dragon.

Wow.

I was amazed at the sheer stupidity of it all.

My mind may have been in quite an amazing state of shock but I was able to conclude that everyone who died today would do so BECAUSE they tried

to be a hero.

I desperately wanted to be cowardly- to know that that simple virtue would add a couple more years to my life- but here I was, being stripped of my

foolish newly-acquired heroic tendency by a big fox.

Yeah. My life is never dull.

"Stay back you idiot."

It spoke.

I ran my hand over my face and whispered, "This is all a bad dream. There is no way in hell all this could happen to me in just one night. No, no way

at all. I can understand dragons and psycho-killer riders...I might even understand Sasuke trying to protect me -kinda gay, but I get it- still, I draw

the line at some fox insulting me. Reality can _not_ be this fucked up. Yes indeed, I am most definitely asleep."

The fox growled, "If you're done talking to yourself, kindly get out of the way."

"I'm standing behind you. How am I in the way?"

"Just run."

Before I could grab Sasuke and do just that, the dragon blew it blazing wrath at us and the fox ran forward- headed directly for it.

It hit.

I fell.

"Shit."

Images started running through my mind...memories I had no idea I had.

Memories of demons.

People dying...

All of it...all my fault.

I yelled angrily and struck the ground.

Sharp pain flowed through my whole body and when I looked up, the dragon and its rider were gone... But where they'd been...

There was a meteor-sized crater in the ground.

And I was in its centre.

"Wha-"

"Naruto!"

"Naruto wake up!"

The pain was ebbing away and I heard voices.

"...new partners..."

"...only solution..."

I opened my eyes.

Jiraiya saw me first and smiled.

"He's awake."

"Good."

Above me, Hinata and Sakura were looking relieved.

I edged away. "You're alive..."

"You're okay!"

They hugged me and reluctantly, I hugged them back.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You passed out before you even made it to the door."

I like how she used 'passed out' instead of 'fainted'.

"Yup," Kiba smirked. "You just fainted."

I'd kill Kiba if I wasn't so tired.

I shivered and sat back, trying to clear my head.

"You all...you were all..."

Tsunade moved closer to me.

"It seems the Guren was still in effect."

I blinked, "Huh?"

She just shrugged, "Sorry."

"You mean..." I sighed. "None of that happened?"

She nodded, "Obviously. Whatever you dreamed was just a nightmare. Blame the Guren...or the one that made it," she glared pointedly at Jiraiya.

I frowned, "I thought it was only for...um...wait, what's it for anyway?"

"Gathering information...and nightmares."

"Ah."

"Did you gather information?"

"Only of the nightmare variety."

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"You're just in time anyway," Jiraiya smirked.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "For what?"

"New partners."

I sat up hurriedly, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through my whole body, "SERIOUSLY?! YES!"

"Not for you."

"WHA- WHY NOT?!"

"YOUR partner isn't in any mortal peril."

"But he _is_! If he gets any cuter,** I WILL KILL HIM**!"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

He then turned away as the door opened and Orochimaru came in, followed closely by a black cat from the looks of it.

"Your partners have been called away and these will be your temporary partners until they return...when it's safe."

"These?"

A large bird flew in through the window I had no idea had been there in the first place, and settled itself on the table, in front of Sasuke.

"Yours is a puma," Orochimaru said calmly to Sakura. "And Sasuke...yours is a falcon."

Sakura looked pleased.

Obviously slugs didn't do it for her. The puma purred and rubbed itself against her leg.

stared indifferently at the falcon.

It stared indifferently back.

I think they were hitting it off.

I groaned loudly and fell back against the cushions.

Just my luck.

Sasuke walked up to me and smirked, "You know, maybe we could use Kyuubi to distract the enemy and when their cooing, we could strike."

I glared at him, "I'll show you 'strike'-"

"Naruto."

I swore and ignored Sasuke's triumphant smirk. He really is an evil bastard.

I'd get back at him somehow.

Hell, it _was _still prank week.

**(I am an Obsessed page break. I like to feel the warm spot on your chair)**

Finally, the sun decided to grace us with its prescence.

My Sasuke-induced anger had not waned and I was going to make that winter wonderbutt pay.

Maybe I'd even get Genma to seduce him.

That would show him...and scar him for life.

We were currently outside the castle, waiting for Anko in preparation for what was to be our first lesson here, Weaponry 101. All seasons and hosts

were outside waiting, except for Sasuke, who had been delayed by Orochimaru. Lucky for him, Jiraiya had still been in the room. Even if he IS

something of a bastard, he doesn't deserve the paedophilic attention of the snake man.

As Sasuke walked out of Year, Kiba and I watched with baited breath.

The plastic bucket fell...right on target.

It was a basic prank...but we'd spruced it up abit.

Sasuke looked confused as he stared at himself.

The others were speechless and Hinata chuckled.

Sasuke scowled. "Is this _glitter_?"

"Oh look at him pretending he's covered in glitter when we all know the truth."

Sasuke stared at Tenten blankly and she smirked.

Kiba snorted, "_Of course_! He's a _vampire_!" he moved forward and pointed at Sasuke. "Note the deathly pale skin," he poked Sasuke's arm. "The

murderous, bloodthirsty gaze?" here, he pointed at Sasukes eyes. "And the real cincher is how he's **SPARKLING **in the sun..."

Sasuke was fuming.

I walked up to him and said, "Like real men, real vampires _don't_ sparkle."

It was at this unfortunate (for Sasuke) moment in time that Genma appeared.

He took one look at Sasuke, touched his arm and whispered, "Oh my gosh. You're pale white and ice cold...I know what you are..."

"Don't say it," Sasuke growled.

"...Vanilla Icecream..."

"I hate you."

Genma stared for a full minute before saying, "You know, maybe it's just me but you don't seem very intimidating right now... To be honest, you kinda

remind me of many well-spent, glittery Arts and Crafts days in kindergarten."

"Sod off."

Genma grinned, "I'll be back."

Sasuke would have gone back in to take a shower or something to remove the glitter, but Anko arrived, looked at him and said, "Ah, the joys of

prank week."

Sasuke opened his mouth and Anko shook her head- "No, sorry. You can't."

Sasuke sent a glare at me and Kiba and we both were innocently looking away., pointing and looking with the greatest of interest at a cloud shaped

like a cloud.

"Follow me."

We passed Kakashi and he paused long enough to dryly say to Sasuke, "I'm a frequent blood donor."

Sasuke flipped him off and shoved past him.

We made our way to the Accountants building and went behind it, where we found a large shed.

Anko unlocked the door and went in.

We just followed.

Inside was a vast assortment of weapons...unorganized and dangerously lying about.

"For our first lesson..." Anko stretched out her hands. "Arrange these and don't die."

With that, she left.

We all sighed and Shikamaru made abit more effort than the rest of us by muttering, "Troublesome."

I think one day he'll figure out that saying 'troublesome' is actually alot of work and make himself a shorter catchphrase, like the Uchiha's 'Hn'.

We got to work and slaved away.

At one point, a dagger flew past my ear and lodged itself into the wall.

I glared back at the Winter sadists, who were all sporting (poorly) hidden smirks and Shino shrugged innocently and suggested, "Flying dagger?"

I huffed and picked up a large axe. "I wonder what else flies in here..."

They visibly paled (moreso than they already were) and I smiled as Kiba laughed and pointed rudely at them.

We decided to make heaps and piles in the large wooden crates we found.

Daggers and knives went in one crate, axes and scythes in another.

We finished quickly...actually, the girls did most of the work as we guys (except Shikamaru) were actually interested in the weapons we got our

hands on, and left, glad that only half the day was gone.

lost it when we finally made our way back and Jiraiya saw him.

He looked at him for a second before running back into the castle shouting, "Tsunade! Come see! Girly vampires _don't_ melt in the sun!"

Sasuke spun round and punched me.

Now, I know he was simply overreacting and I should stay calm but that reasonable thought was bashed repeatedly with a club by my evil devil-chibi

and I tackled the Sasuke oto the ground.

The others cheered as we threw blows and then-

"Stop."

We ignored whoever was talking and just as I was about to give Sasuke what would soon be known world-wide as the mother of all Shiners, I found

myself being pulled roughly away and...

Floating?

I looked across me to where Sasuke was in the air, equally flailing about.

I glanced down and spotted Ibiki looking up at us with a scowl that showed he was VERY unamused.

I gulped.

"Apologise to each other and I'll let you down."

I suddenly realized that a steady, strong gust of air was keeping me up.

Hosts had powers too?

I turned to Sasuke.

"Well...apologize."

"Idiot. Why would I?" he sneered.

"Because you started this."

"Me? Aren't you and your idiot dog-boy-friend the ones who got me covered in glitter?"

I snorted, "No. I don't do simple pranks."

He actually looked confused for a second before he said gruffly, "Who else could it have been?"

I shrugged, "Sakura trying to get your attention? Hinata exploring her dark side? How the hell should I know?"

I am pleased to say I have studied the art of lying and perfected it to a tee.

Even down to microexpressions. There are some pretty dishonest people out there and rather than being had by them, I'd rather be the one ripping

people off.

It's a sound plan.

Sasuke sighed, "Fine. I guess...I'm sorry."

"You guess?"

He glared at me and even as I thought 'Sucker', I nodded and said, "It's alright. Shit happens."

He nodded.

Ibiki then promptly brought us back down though I wondered how he'd heard our mumbled sorry excuses for apologies.

We all went back to our own wings and I skipped lunch. I didn't have the energy to go down and lift cutlery to feed myself food that obviously

_wasn't_ ramen.  
Shika came to check on me and on finding me asleep (faking of course), left.

I skipped supper too, though it was cause I actually fell asleep that time.

**(I am a cool page break. I wear shades)**

That night was a restless one... I'm sure I've never actually HAD a good night here.

I woke up around midnight and as Kyuubi was softly snoring, all my death glares sadly went unheeded.

I crept out of bed and left my room.

I didn't see anyone on my way out and was seriously considering talking to the old seasons about security measures here before figuring that that

would probably be counterproductive.

I randomly headed for the greenhouse and wondered if this would be like last time, when we were unconsciously summoned.

I made my way to the tree and stood in front of it.

My amulet remained cool against my chest and I sighed, "I don't suppose you have a flying power you could give me to escape?"

I noticed a movement and wondered if maybe this was still a Guren nightmare.

Coming from the tree's trunk was...a woman.

She had long red hair that was flowing freely all around her and she was in a long flowing dress.

Her eyes were closed and she was kind of... see-through?

I gasped and her eyes sprang open.

They were a bright, clear green and I stared.

She was beautiful.

She turned to me and a wave of recognition crossed her face.

"You're back..."

Her voice sounded amused and relieved.

I stepped out from the shadows, backing away and her smile faded.

"Autumn?"

I growled, forgetting to be scared, "It's **_Naruto_**, dammit! What the hell is _wrong_ with you people!? I have a bloody name!"

A full minute passed as she stared at me and I wondered if my death by insolence would be slow and tear-filled or quick and merciful.

Then, suddenly, she laughed.

"You're so cute!"

With that, she moved forward, faster than I'd have expected her to, and pinched my cheeks.

I stepped back, huffing and coming to the conclusion that though she might be abit transparent, she wasn't a ghost.

"Who are you?"

"Uh...I'm **The Tree**."  
"

Ah...right. The tree... Right..."

She looked at me like I was a particularly slow child and said, "I...me..." she pointed at herself. "...am the tree. You know, _THE_ Tree...this is my real

form..."

I frowned tiredly at her, "Don't patronise me. I heard you the first time."

"I did."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she chuckled, "It's nice to officially meet you."

"I thought we already met."

"I rather like to think I'm more entertaining this way than as a block of wood."

"I should hope so."

She looked at me curiously then came up with the conclusion, "You amuse me."

"And here I was thinking my clown aspirations were pointless."

She smiled, "We can't all take everything seriously can we?"

"I guess..."

She floated away from me and leaned against the tree trunk.

"Is it still called 'The Tree' if you're not in it?"

"Nope," she stretched. "Now its just called the tree."

I stared.

She sighed. "With ME in it, it's THE tree, emphasis on 'the'...WITHOUT me...it's just the tree."

"Uh huh..."

My stomach decided to have a word in and growled.

I blushed as The Tree laughed before she got up and handed me a fruit.

I crept forward and took it. It_ looked_ like a normal apple...

I bit into it and made a whimpering sound.

It tasted...**WOW**.

It was like, all my favourite food (ramen. Duh) and yet, still like an apple.

I have no idea what kind of apple it was but if my stomach made no complaints then neither would I.

I finished it off and felt like I'd eaten a three course dinner.

She nodded at a flowerpot next to me, "Just place what's left in there."

I put the core in the pot and leaned back and looked intently at her.

"Who are you?"

"Aren't you alittle young to be senile? I already told you, I'm-"

"The Tree, yes. I got that, thanks. But how did you become said tree. Have you always been a power-granting, fruit-giving tree spirit or whatever it is

you are?"

She shrugged, "I've been like this for what feels like eternity."

I yawned, "Guess you're a regular adult then."

"How so?"

"Answering questions vaguely. It's a practiced adult art."

She smiled at me and nodded. "It's late. You should get to bed."

I snorted, "What are you, my mom?"

She stood and gave me such a stern look that I shot up myself, grumbling quietly just to let her know that I was doing this of my own free will.

She smiled, all warm and friendly again, "Goodnight Naruto. Sleep tight."

I shrugged, "'Night Tree."

I heard her laugh as I turned away.

This place just kept getting weirder.

**(I am a male page break. I can fart the alphabet)**

Breakfast had me agitated and to be honest, quite pissed.

"Wait. So...THEY get new, **cooler** partners at the drop of a hat and I'm stuck with the buttless wonder?"

Hinata coughed and Kyuubi looked up at me imploringly.

I sighed, "The _cute,_ buttless wonder?"

Hinata nodded.

"Come on, Kyuubi's awesome!"

I glared at Kiba, who was watching Blaze and Akamaru growling at each other while Kyuubi did some sort of barking and/or growling at them-

probably knowing fully well he was too small to join in the puppies' rough-housing.

How embarrassing.

I knew it was going to be a terribly awful day when Jiraiya cleared his throat and said, "Oh Naruto, if you're going to try digging out your room to

freedom, you'll need this."

He threw a pick by my chair and added, "Don't take anymore cutlery. We need it to eat...and they aren't very well designed for tunnelling."

Tch. Bastard.

**(I am an Uchiha page break. Look into my eyes...aren't they pretty?)**

Anko led Kakashi quietly past the Accountants building, leading him towards the kraal.

"What is it?" Kakashi sighed.

Anko glared at him, "Your porn isn't going anywhere so just shut up and follow me."

"Crazy, PMS-ing psycho..." he grumbled lowly.

Anko spun round and said dangerously, "Did you say something?"

Kakashi choked and laughed uneasily, "Er...no, no."

Anko nodded and turned, "Look. There."

Kakashi lowered his ever present little book o' porn and swore.

"No way..."

There, in front of them, was a huge crater.

"What does this mean?"

Anko smirked, "It means we're in for a rough 50 years."

Kakashi groaned.

"What do you want?"

"If the others find out, it'll lead to more problems. I need to get Naruto out of here so please just help me...just with this..."

Kakashi sighed, "Fine."

He stretched out his hand, reforming the land that had been blasted away.

"You owe me."

Anko took out a large bottle of whiskey from her coat, "Already got it covered."

--

**A/N: Yo.**

**It's long overdue and not funny at all so I'm really sorry about that.**

**I'm alittle behind on review replies so if you get one for chapter one while I'm on chapter Six, don't freak out. It's perfectly alright.**

**& I wanna apologize for putting my personal problems here... This isn't a blog site so I won't do that anymore... (I'll have that A/N removed **

**from the ****previous chapter)**

**Also, this fic is in an alternate universe so dragons aren't exactly all that awe-inspiring or anything, they're like normal animals... So while a **

**giant one **

**is strange, it is not insanely cool...meaning that no, Kakashi isn't some super 'I-wear-my-underwear-on-the-outside-&-I-got-a-dragon' kind of **

**hero or ****anything...**

**Um...yeah, that's about it.**

**Thanks for sticking with the fic. I'm glad you guys like it (even the brutally honest ones)...**


	6. Plans

**The Four Seasons**

by Rizember

Xxx-xxX

**Beta'ed by: **[Unbeta'ed]

Xxx-xxX

**Summary**: I never wanted to be a season... It's just one of the many ways life just isn't fair. Humour, supernatural…

Xxx-xxX

**Chapter 6: Plans**

Xxx-xxX

**Disclaimer: **insert witty disclaimer here.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait.**

Almost a week had passed since I'd been tricked into Seasonship and brought to Suna.

Six days to be exact.

The last three days had been filled with us doing special 'training' that, I couldn't help but notice, closely resembled 'chores'.

After Anko's 'weapons training' where we arranged the weapons in the shed, Genma would have us do 'under-water sanitation evaluation'

which was basically us cleaning the pond that was somewhere in the middle of the forest.

There was also Kakashi's 'Toxic tolerance training' which was put to rest yesterday once Tsunade found out about it. It involved us drinking

till we passed out. I use the term '_we' _liberally.

We're all too young to drink but I was glad to find that while the others all got totally wasted and passed out after a few drinks, I managed to

stay up and sober. Two shots was the Winter guys' limit (yes, all three of them), Sakura's was two shots, a martini and a beer; Hinata, six

beers, three shots and two bloody Mary's; Shikamaru actually shocked me by having eight beers and six cocktail drinks, Lee was out after

just one sip of Shika's beer; Tenten and Temari challenged each other to a chugging contest so I didn't really count how far they went but

they still passed out pretty quick while Kiba, being the manly man that he was, went up to twelve beers and six shots. I was still standing, on

my fourteenth beer, by the time Tsunade showed up. Needless to say, Jiraiya and Anko were majorly proud of me- especially this morning

when I showed up bright and early with no hung-over in sight.

I enjoyed clinking my breakfast dishes together unnecessarily, ignoring all the glares I received from the other teens as they nursed their

heads.

They deserve to suffer. At least they'd gotten some sleep.

I was loathe to tell anyone about my dream the previous night. After all, it was exactly the same as the one I'd had after my memorable

introduction to guren. Besides, the day I mentioned it, Tsunade had brushed it off as the guren nightmare effect.

I'm not entirely sure why the hell one would give an ally a nightmare-inducing drink for the sake of information but hey; what do I know?

I don't know how long guren's effects last but I was sure that they remembered my first guren-induced dream...the one that foretelling a

battle.

A battle due tomorrow.

The past few days I'd had the dreams. In every one of them, everyone died. I was always the last to go. It was more irritating than scary,

really. I mean, I felt like I was being forced to watch the same movie over and over even though I was the director.

Breakfast was eerily silent and apart from me clinking dishes, no other noise was made.

"MORNING YOUNG CURRENTLY UNMOLESTED PEOPLE!"

"GOOD MORNING GENMA!"

So much for that. I suppose Lee should get along fine with Genma…when he's not being a perv… which probably isn't often.

Tsunade glared at Genma but he ignored her as he plopped down into a seat next to me.

"Morning Naruto."

I ignored him.

"You're having a show today."

Still ignoring him...

"A full-on Seasons battle..."

I'm not really sure why I thought this 'ignore Genma' thing would work.

Anko, who had been in the seat across me, stood abruptly and cleared her throat to get our attention.

"Ahem."

I ignored her too.

I was still somewhat miffed about the whole season thing. It's weird but, somehow, I feel kinda betrayed by Anko for keeping her host

identity from me. It shouldn't matter but it did.

I felt like she'd been baiting me for ages...like this had all been planned out and I was some disposable pawn in their twisted game of chess.

Great. Now they'd ruined chess for me.

Dropkicking the possibility of taking up mahjong instead, I propped my chin on my elbow and turned to face the window. In the distance, I

could see Peaches flying aimlessly through the air.

If seasons were as powerful as people say...and I am now a season, surely I should be able to escape without having to dig my way to

freedom with stolen cutlery.

Short of throwing me out, I'm at a loss at how to escape without using whatever it was The Tree had given me.

My chest warmed unpleasantly as the memory of the last time my 'gift' from Tree used itself.

I glanced at Sakura and Sasuke, who were sitting side by side on the other side of the table. I had noticed her send a smirk in Ino's direction

when she'd sat near the guy- like it was her greatest honour to breathe his air.

I remembered the blazing heat that had knocked me out because of my apparent disregard for Sakura's personal space (even though she

hit me first) and then the stinging coolness of Sasuke's chakra before Hinata's, that had been just right. Looking at the dark haired girl now, I

frowned slightly.

Hinata was staring out the window, looking as bored as I felt. She sighed and turned to me for a moment. I looked at her and she looked

back, her face blank of all expression before she smiled and turned away.

I just don't get that girl.

This whole week had me being forced to talk to almost everyone- except for her. I'm not sure whether that was coincidental or that we just

happened to always be situated really far from each other.

I found out that apart from Shika and Kiba, I could tolerate Ino and enjoyed talking to Tenten and Temari who were actually sport

enthusiasts, even though neither of them watch soccer.

For the winter trio, I reserved only grunts and nods as was done in the caveman days as our form of communication. It seemed to suit them

just fine.

"Tomorrow your actual training begins," Anko started. "And I'd like to thank you all for helping us with our chores this past week."

We glared…except for Lee, who shouted, "You're welcome!"

"I'd also like to say, I hope you all survive your training. You'll begin at six in the morning. A bus will take you to your destination tomorrow

and Shizune and Tsunade will meet you there. For today, you'll have to come with us on a forced road trip. Hurry up with your food, we'll be

leaving soon."

"I'm not going."

It took awhile for me to realize I'd said that out loud. What the hell was up with my brain-to-mouth filter? Dammit, now they'd all know I was

planning on skipping.

I shook my head at my own stupidity before realizing they were all staring at me. I stared back, raising an eyebrow at them before saying.

"Ignore me, I was talking to the voices in my head."

Anko sighed. "You don't have voices in your head."

"Are you a resident in my head? No? Didn't think so."

She rolled her eyes and continued to speak, explaining to everyone else things I just couldn't be bothered to care about.

Yuukimaru brought a cup of steaming hot chocolate and placed it by my side. I nodded a thanks at him and took a sip before my brain

mentioned how strange it was that Yuukimaru had brought me my own hot chocolate when I'd just poured myself juice. It also pointed out

that no one else had been served.

I shoved my chair back angrily and threw the mug at the wall where it shattered, sending hot chocolate all over the wall and surprising the

others.

"What the hell is _wrong _with you people?"

While the other teens edged away from me, Anko and all the older farts just grinned. Orochimaru seemed impressed as he stated, "I didn't

think you'd notice."

Picking up the knife by my side, I was more than ready to carve up his face and give him something else to think about when I stumbled and

grabbed hold of the table to keep upright.

I loosened my grip on the knife and whispered, "Why do you keep drugging me?"

I looked up and right before I collapsed into darkness, I saw Anko mouth "I'm sorry".

Before my brain sputtered out, I made up my mind on what I'd do.

I was going to gain all the power they wanted me to learn to use so badly.

And I was going to use it to escape.

(I am a lazy page break. Pass me the remote)

I woke up to find myself moving. Contrary to popular sleep-walking belief...this is not a restful, exercising experience- especially when it's

not actually you doing the 'walking'...

I groaned as my head brushed against a pebble in the grass.

Yes indeed, I was being dragged by my leg...through the dirt."What the _bloody hell _do you think you're doing?"

Jiraiya just looked at me and shrugged. "You're heavy. I couldn't _carry _you the whole way."

Next to him, Kakashi glanced at me and his eye did that crinkly thing where it looks like his smiling...or smirking. I'm betting on the latter.

"Oh good," he said calmly. "You're awake."

The world seemed kinda lopsided, the effect of being kidnapped-_again_-and dragged around like a hefty carcass,

I indignantly, I pulled in my other leg and let loose a savage kick that connected -_spectacularly_, I might add- with Jiraiya's a sharp cry of

surprise, he let go of my leg and promptly landed face first in the dirt.

I took that chance to help his face be properly introduced to the landscape, pressing it into the dirt as I growled at him. "For the millionth

time, kidnapping. Is. Illegal. Jackass."

The last four words were said with me picking up his head and reacquainting it with the ground, followed by a lovely face-grinding before I

was easily pulled up off him and thrown toward Anko, who stepped out of the way and let me fall. I glared at her as Jiraiya looked up and

glared at me.

Yay, glaring competition.

I decided I should really start sleeping with sharp, pointy objects...it would save me so much trouble later on.

Jiraiya got up himself- seeing as how no one else seemed interested in helping him up- and stuck his nose up in the air proudly before

continuing to walk.

I smirked at the dirt on his face and felt somewhat vindicated. Not enough to enjoy the day but just enough to get me started.

I felt a soft nudge and turned to face Shikamaru.

Behind him, Kiba and Ino were holding back amused chuckles and I smiled slightly at them.

I looked around us and finally noticed we were in a forest.

"Where the hell are we?"

"In a forest."

"Yes, thank you Shika. Cause all the trees had me fooled there for a second."

As always, Shikamaru ignored my sarcasm and trudged on, following the the seasons and hosts were here- both old generation and new...

All walking like it was a pleasant hike they were taking us on.

"Where are we going?"

Ino shrugged, walking between Kiba and me.

"After they drugged you, they led us all to the Year bus and drove all the way out here before parking by the roadside and leading us

through the woods," she explained. "They say they're taking us to something called the 'Battle tablet'."

Battle tablet? Sounds like a super soldier drug.

Something ran past my feet and I frowned. Akamaru and Blaze were chasing Sakura's puma, followed closely by Kyuubi who was just

embarrassing me by bothering.

Sasuke's falcon was flying calmly over us, resting every now and then on Kakashi's head, sticking in a few twigs and bits of

grass before flapping vigorously and flying away again. I'm hard-pressed to say whether Kakashi's so into his porn that he can't feel the

large bird landing on his head every five minutes to perfect its nest...or he's just an idiot.

I barely listened to the others as I tried to take note of the thick forest around us. It was noisy with the calls of birds and other creatures that

had apparently deemed us non-threatening and thus, not worthy of their silence.

We were walking on a wide path that was covered with grass and yet somehow still noticeable as a path. To either side of us, the forest was

thick and the trees were so close together it reminded me of the fake barricade we'd drove into when we first got here. It was also pretty

dark in there but as there were no branches spread up over us, the path was bright with the sunlight.

"We're here."

I followed everyone's gaze at Tsunade's words and waited for all of them to pass.

Before us was a huge rundown building taken straight out of a Mayan temple magazine.

To say I was disappointed would have been the understatement of the century. This place was terrible. I opened my mouth to ask if we

were supposed to do the forest a favour and demolish it but then a small bird flew by and landed on a large brick from the roof's corner

before squawking loudly as the roof made a loud crumbling noise and fell to the ground in front of us, the bird escaping being crushed by it

only to be captured and eaten by Sasuke's falcon seconds later.

I closed my mouth.

Seems the forest was demolishing the building just fine.

"Alright!" Kakashi said cheerfully while everyone else was still eyeing Sasuke's falcon warily. "Let's go in!"

We stared at him.

He stared back.

"Oh right, of course. All hosts and partners, follow Anko! Seasons…"

_Please tell us to go back, please tell us to go back, please tell us to-_

"Let's go in!"

I can see my mind control abilities are alittle worn out. I blame my lack of ramen.

So far, what with being drugged at breakfast, dragged along the forest floor and now being ordered to go into a death trap, my only

consolation was that Genma wasn't here.

As you can see, I'm learning to appreciate the little things.

Anko led the hosts away along another path that went away from the ruins, every one of them except for Ibiki followed. Ibiki and Jiraiya both

came to stand behind me. Shooting a disinterested glance their way, I held back a smirk.

They thought I would try to bolt. Not that it hadn't crossed my mind but you'd think they'd have alittle more faith in me. I mean, sure these

past six days I'd tried to escape a total of seventeen and a half times but whose counting? I say 'half' because one of those times involved

me running toward the main gate back in Suna when they had been left open and being tranquilized just as I was almost halfway there.

Honestly, the bastards hadn't even waited for me to at least reach the gates before shooting me. My ass had hurt for two days straight and

Genma had been there to supply gay reasons as to why my ass was hurting. Needless to say, by the time I was through with him, his ass

was hurting too…and my shoe was worn out.

"Not planning on leaving, are you?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.

I shrugged and walked in, not bothering to answer him lest they take that as an opportunity to slam something nasty down my throat. I

heard Ibiki and Jiraiya exchange a few words that were too low for me to hear and he walked away, leaving Jiraiya to handle me on my

own.

I'm beginning to think that maybe the Seasons are secretly drug lords who're just trying to make a quick buck by getting people addicted to

their drugs through force-feeding. It made total sense if you think about it…excluding the others that is. But then again, maybe they don't

need the others. I'm pretty loaded and well, if they could get me addicted to their 'guren', I'd probably be responsible for a large percentage

of their profits.

I chuckled darkly to myself when I thought of that and looked up to see Hinata looking at me funny.

I'm not sure whether it's cause we've been subjected to way too much of the Winter guys' presence lately but she seems pretty withdrawn. I

looked away. I don't even know the girl so there's really no point speculating about her social norms when I don't even know what they are.

That first day, I'd had her pegged as a shy, quiet girl…but that had been shot to hell the moment she'd snapped at the Ice prince.

Sasuke was another issue altogether. He still gets on my nerves with his cool-guy act.

I get it, you're Winter, no need to be an ice-cold prick.

Granted, we haven't talked much after he was forced to apologize to me for the fight we had over my prank (which he still believes wasn't

me) but my instincts don't like him and I like my instincts.

Still, with my recurring dream where he tries to constantly save my ass, I'm almost led to believe the bastard might have a heart.

"DO YOUR BEST, SAKURA!" Lee shouted, giving her a thumbs-up for good measure. Sakura blushed and hurried away.

"See you later man!" Kiba called and I waved at him before sighing and walking into the building after hallway was dark and for a good few

minutes, all I could make out were the silhouettes of the people walking in front of me.I _so _wish I was a host right the end of the hallway, I

could make out a bright light and as we finally reached it and stepped out into the sunlight, we couldn't help the (_greatly) _disappointed place

looked horrible- like it had been left alone for a lot longer than 50 buildings were crumbling all around us and the stairs looked like they'd

laugh uncontrollably at us before collapsing if we so much as walked in their direction. Vines and bushes grew haphazardly everywhere and

as I looked down the steps, I could just barely make out a square courtyard.

"Is that it?"

I glanced at Hinata who was staring at the courtyard with a blank expression on her face. Sasuke looked pretty much the same and only

Sakura seemed somewhat excited about the platform below. Staring back at it, I sighed and took a step forward before I gasped and

backed like when I'd touched Sakura and nearly died of a heat stroke, the burning heat was back.

I looked down at the courtyard and stared what I could make out, the courtyard was divided into four equal parts and at the centre of each

was a season insignia. The one directly below us has the sun symbol- , I walked around passing the others as I moved toward the autumn

slab in the counterclockwise direction.I stopped in front of Winter's, having passed the spring slab, and stepped forward. The same thing

happened and I stepped back, shivering I looked back at the others, they all seemed to be watching me intently and I raised an eyebrow at

them.

Why was it I always seemed to be the one experimenting with new, potentially deadly things...like guren. It felt like they all just waited to see

if I'd die first before trying anything themselves. Granted, they'd taken their guren without being force-fed but I'm under the impression that

mine was the only slop-filled and Kakashi seemed amused by my antics but Orochimaru was eyeing me strangely and Tsunade had a small

smile on her face.

They are so weird.

"This is the Battle tablet," Orochimaru started, his eyes still on me. "It is carved out of dragon rock and should bring out your powers with

minimal levels of concentration. It's been used for sparring sessions since the very first seasons."

I turned away from him and noticed that they were all walking toward their allocated slabs.

"Watch us," Orochimaru continued. "You'll be up next."

The old guys all stood in front of the steps leading down to the courtyard and took in deep breaths as if bracing themselves.

Thier first step onto the steps had us all gawking at them. The vines and shrubs all seemed to slowly disappear as they made their way

down.

Colour sprang up from nowhere and everything seemed more lively and bright...beautiful.

Like a Barbie movie.

It was disgusting.

"Watch," we were instructed

As soon as they each reached their insignia, it shone brightly and a huge gust of wind blew, throwing dust and leaves up into the air as it

spun around us. I shut my eyes instinctively and waited for it to pass and when it had, I was amazed. The buildings around us had

drastically changed. Where before they looked like ruins from an Indiana Jones movie, now they looked like they'd just been recently built

and open for business.

Like a themed amusement park...or a coffee shop.

I looked down at the four people below, standing on their insignias, and felt a pang of apprehension. Under different circumstances, I'd have

been quite impressed.

Suddenly, they all moved.

Tsunade crouched low, her legs spread apart as she placed one hand flat on the ground. Orochimaru drew a long stick- a scepter or something- from mid air and spun it in his hand, looking completely relaxed. Jiraiya crouched like Tsunade, his pose seeming to taunt hers and Kakashi turned the page of his little book o' porn.

A melody started to play, flowing through the air around us before coming to a slow, mournful halt.

At the end of it, Tsunade raised her hands and fire balls flew from them, aimed at the other three. Orochimaru waved his scepter and a

large thick wall of ice rose up from the ground and blocked Tsunade's attack. Jiraiya, showing off his old-man skills, simply dodged in a way

akin to the matrix before we heard a cracking sound and a cry of "My back!"

Kakashi sighed and turned another page as a tree sprang up from the ground in front of him and took the brunt of the flames.

I suppose by then it was fairly obvious that the battle tablet was...for battle.

Kakashi raised his book and jumped back just as what looked like little ice darts pierced through the tree trunk that had been his defense.

He edged back and stopped, lowering his porn for a moment before a tree grew out of the tablet from under him, letting him ride it like a

wave till it stopped growing, towering above all the others.

Tsunade snorted and placed her hands together before doing what would officially be one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen, riding a

ball of fire up to Kakashi's level. Orochimaru, not to be outdone, did the same on a slab of ice and I marveled at their power. It was

remarkable.

Like watching the Fantastic Four _live_.

I looked down, expecting something equally awe-inspiring from Jiraiya and struggled not to die from embarrassment as he lay there on the

ground, moaning about his back.

_Honestly_.

The other three continued their battle, completely ignoring Jiraiya as balls of flames, sharpened shards of ice and sprays of water met each

other in what was looking like quite the interesting spar between the three.

By this time, Kakashi seemed to finally be taking it seriously as he pocketed the orange book and lowered the mask, revealing his other

eye. The mask now only covered half his face and I could just make out the scar over his usually covered eye.

Was that why he wore a mask? It didn't look too bad. Heck, it kinda made him look cool.

As I was thinking this, the place suddenly got a lot darker and I looked up in surprise.

Dark clouds were gathering above us.

_Rain_?

That sound from before, the lazy melody that had me thinking Shikamaru was its composer, rang through the air again.

The three Seasons all stopped and stood straight.

The fire and ice moved swiftly back to the ground and the tree Kakashi was on seemed to rumble as it disappeared into the ground. I

suppose that sound signaled the start and end of the session.

Jiraiya was up, holding onto his back like it was broken or something and they all walked back up to us, their successors.

I shook my head at Jiraiya.

"What was _that_?"

He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm an old man…"

"It's not like you needed to confirm it," I sighed.

I could almost feel the smirks from the other three. At least _they_ hadn't been embarrassed and knew what powers they had and what they

could use.

Tsunade had used fire; Orochimaru, ice and Kakashi had used water and…fertiliser? I mean, I don't know what power you'd need to be able

to make a tree grow like that but maybe Peaches' poop had its uses on the battle field.

"You're up."

My eyes widened incredulously at Jiraiya.

"Like hell I am."

He grinned. "Go on."

"Go on and do _what_? Break _my _back? You didn't show me _anything_. At least the others know what they can do but you just showed me how

to play dead…or old. I'm _so _not throwing myself into that ass-whooping."

But, as I was soon to remind myself as I tumbled down the steps, this was Jiraiya and the old man was not above pushing me down a

considerably large flight of steps.

Once I reached the bottom, I sprang up and gave Jiraiya the finger.

He was lucky I didn't break anything, the fat bastard!

It's funny how just a few days ago, I was one of those kids who believed in respecting their elders and now, I'm all for telling the old farts to

go to hell. Well…Just Jiraiya.

That sound went off again and I turned to eye the others warily.

Sakura was staring at her hands and suddenly, her fingers caught fire. She screamed and flung her arm about, apparently trying to put it out

while I watched amused.

Sasuke seemed to be in deep thought but when I looked closely, I noticed ice forming on a small patch of the tablet beneath his feet. Hinata

was apparently a natural and doing far better than the rest of us- especially me as I had no idea what to do. Swirling around her body was a

stream of water whose movement she was controlling with her hands. Her movements were smooth and flowing, just like a river and it was

beautiful to watch. All of a sudden, her eyes met mine and she smirked. I barely had time to duck as the jet of water shot right above me. I

glowered at her even as I thanked what little after-school activities I'd been involved in for my quick reflexes. I looked up just in time to

avoid-

"Snowballs?"

I glanced at Sasuke and could see the light pink tinge on his cheeks. Good. He _should_ be embarrassed. Who the heck throws snowballs at

people in battle?

I ducked another pair of snowballs and then turned to Sakura who seemed to have finally figured out that the fire wasn't burning her. She

had a fireball in her hand and a satisfied grin on her face.

This could not end well…for me.

Now maybe it's just me but the three of them do seem to be ganging up on me.

Damn, I had to think this through.

_Orochimaru had said something about concentration._

I ducked Hinata's water.

_Concentrate on what?_

Three snowballs whizzed by my ear.

_What element does Autumn use?_

I rolled on the ground to put out the fire that had caught my trouser leg.

_What element?_

Oh no, all three of them were taking aim at me.

_Shit_.

The mournful sound filled the air again and they all froze even as I relaxed in hidden relief.

If I still had my cell phone I'd have made that my new ring tone.

I noticed the disappointed sighs of the other three and suppressed a glare. I turned away and hurried up the steps where I nearly fell all the

way back down again when Jiraiya clapped me hard on the back.

"Well done, Naruto!"

I blinked.

Well done?

_Well done!_

"For _what_? I didn't _do_ anything!"

He shrugged. "Maybe so but you didn't die and that's what's important."

Die?

Tch, please.

"No offense to the others Jiraiya, cause they obviously _have_ powers, but their attacks were hardly deadly," I looked down at my jeans.

"Well, maybe except for dying an accidental fiery death but that's about it."

He grinned at me and nodded.

"Jiraiya, what element does Autumn use?"

"Element?"

I nodded. "Yeah well, Spring obviously uses water, Summer uses fire and Winter uses ice. So what about Autumn?"

"You mean you?"

I snorted. "I mean _you_."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Well, it's hard to say…"

I frowned slightly before it dawned on me. "Autumn has no element."

I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to deny it but he stayed silent.

I shook my head to try clear it of my growing frustration and started to walk back out the way we'd come.

I suppose it kind of made sense, alittle I think.

The closest thing Autumn had to power was dodging attacks. Jiraiya had seemed to be good at it before his back gave out and I definitely

was okay with it down there.

Was that Autumn's power?

Self preservation?

I sighed as I walked through the dark hallway.

I couldn't wait to get out. I felt so claustrophobic.

I guess I just didn't want to admit I was feeling disappointed.

Outside, we found the hosts waiting for us.

Anko smiled. "How'd it go?"

I shrugged and started off onto the path we'd used to get here.

I heard the other seasons arrive and start to talk loudly with the hosts but I couldn't be bothered.

I felt cheated.

Shikamaru walked up to me and walked by my side, not saying anything.

I never noticed before, but he's a good friend.

**(I am a Chouji-hulk page break. I'd kill you for a cookie)**

The walk lasted almost thirty minutes and I almost wished I'd been knocked out again and dragged.

We came up to the edge of the forest and I saw a large road with a tour bus parked by the side. This one had Year written on the side.

I walked toward it and tried the doors, glad when I found them open.

I took a window seat and Shikamaru sat by me, quietly taking Kyuubi from his pocket and placing him on my lap where the sleeping kit

continued to sleep.

I sighed and glanced out the window. I was fairly surprised to see the Suna mountain a great distance away.

Where the hell are they taking us?

When everyone was on, Ibiki started the bus and drove us further away from Suna.

While it was somewhat refreshing to be away from my prison, it wasn't all that great when all I got to see was trees.

I looked up at the sky. It was obviously way past noon.

Anko stood at the front of the bus and I wondered why she was the one doing all the talking.

"We'll now be headed into the Sunagakure Village. It's a long way away and I'd suggest you all get some rest. There you'll get to pick your weapons."

"Our weapons?" Sakura frowned.

"Yes," Anko grinned. "You didn't think you were going to kill demons with your bare hands, did you?"

Sakura paled and shook her head.

"Good."

The ride was quiet as almost everyone took Anko's advice and fell asleep, including the Seasons.

Finally, after three hours, the only ones awake were Ibiki and me.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

I didn't answer him. You'd think it would be fairly obvious why I wouldn't want to fall asleep in a bus full of people I didn't trust. Well, except

for Shikamaru but then again, if he's sleeping too, my trust would be wasted on his unconscious form.

"Can't sleep?"

Ibiki didn't strike me as the talkative type so I mulled over why he was taking the trouble to speak to me.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment?"

Now it was just getting weird.

"Naru-"

"I just have nothing to say, alright?"

He was silent for awhile before speaking again. "You know, it's okay to feel that way."

I looked back out the window. "Feel what way?"

"Like you can't trust us."

"It's not a feeling."

He made a sniffing noise that I assumed was his version of a chuckle.

"Why do you keep trying to run away?"

I rolled my eyes at that. Was he seriously interrogating me from behind the wheel?

"You know, even if you do manage to leave, there's no one to replace you."

I snorted at that. "You wouldn't need to replace me. Autumn's a fairly useless Season to be."

"It does seem that way at first."

"I doubt it gets any better… Unless you need Autumn to act as bait while the other guys beat off the demons."

Ibiki laughed loudly at that one. "Well… you'll learn about team work soon enough."

That didn't make any sense.

"We're almost there."

I looked out the front and noticed the road slanting down.

"The village is in the valley."

I nodded absently and continued to watch as it slowly came into view.

Village nothing. The place was a live, bustling city!

There were cars and air balloons and a river running through it. There were large buildings in rows and rows of streets and what looked like

suburban homes.

"Welcome to the Suna Village."

We entered the city and all the noise seemed to wake up the others.

Ibiki drove past the many buildings and people and finally, somewhere in the middle of the small city, came to a stop at what must have

been the busiest place around- the market.

Anko got up and stretched, before leading us all off the bus.

"Let's grab something to eat first and then we can go get you guys your weapons."

We followed her, ignoring calls of the marketers-

"Cabbages! Get your glow in the dark cabbages here!"

"Eye of newt for your everyday spells!"

"Exploding hedges to keep nosey neighbours away!"

"Truth serum for cheating husbands!"

-yeah…we were definitely still not in the normal world.

Anko led us into a restaurant called "Saccharin".

Sounds sweet.

While I prayed they didn't just serve stuff like doughnuts and ice-cream, we were led to a table by a waitress who then just walked away

without asking us what we wanted.

"What the-" Kiba sputtered. "Shouldn't she have taken our order?"

Anko smiled covertly. "No need. Saccharin's well known for knowing exactly what you want."

Well…I won't believe that till I see it.

Kiba apparently agreed with me cause he was still grumbling ten minutes later when the same waitress returned with covered platters which

she set in front of each one of us.

She then bowed low and said, "Enjoy your meals."

With that, she walked away.

I stared at my covered plate apprehensively before taking in a deep breath and uncovering it.

The others watched me as I stared down at a bowl in disbelief.

It was miso ramen.

Ignoring all of them, I grabbed the chopsticks and dug in, moaning at the taste. It was _delicious_.

I barely noticed the rest uncovering the own food with exclamations of joy and wonder as they each found exactly what they wanted to eat.

Across me, Sasuke's meal of spaghetti and meat balls had a large helping of chopped tomatoes over it and for a second I wondered what

was up with that.

With that second gone, I returned to the wonderfully large bowl of ramen in front of me and continued slurping away.

I didn't even need seconds…or fifths.

The bowl was large enough that by the time I was done, I was perfectly satisfied- not stuffed or wanting _just one more bite_…but spot on.

I had a soda just as the waitress brought Anko the bill and disappeared again.

Anko pulled out a checkbook from her coat of many wonders and settled it.

With that, we got up[ and left, following Anko yet again into the busy streets till we came up to a dull-looking building with a faded sign. I

couldn't even make out the words.

Anko led the way in.

"Welcome to Wiley's Weapons Emporium," she announced proudly.

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"You can choose any weapon that strikes your fancy and we'll teach you how to use it…maybe. And no Kiba, you cannot actually buy a can

of Whoop-ass as they are sold in bulk."

"Anko?" A voice called from behind the rows and rows of things I could only assume were weapons.

"Wiley, get out here!"

Following a loud clanging noise, a sharp bang and a few choice swear words, a small man emerged from the mass of steel and wood with a

creepy smile on his face.

"Anko, how good of you to come."

Anko smiled as he took her hand and kissed it longer than should have been proper. I think he even added alittle tongue.

"Welcome all," he smiled at us before turning to face Tsunade. "Ah, Tsunade! Lovely as always!"

Tsunade eyed him warily before saying, "Touch me and die."

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned to the girls. "Ladies…"

They all shifted back as he spun round, his cloak flowing as he shouted, "Follow me!"

His shifty eyes and dark greasy hair reminded me of the shady characters one would see on most infomercials.

"Why do we have to get weapons here? Aren't there enough back at the castle?" Neji asked, eyeing the place distastefully.

Tch. Stuck up princess.

Anko snorted. "There are…but those are mine."

We all paled considerably. All those…just for her?

She noticed our looks and chuckled. "Of course, I share them _sometimes_."

"Nice," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "So what are we looking for?"

"Weapons."

"What _kind_?"

"Of the killing kind."

Of course.

We're being bred to be killers.

"Go off and see if there's anything that catches your eye," Anko instructed. "If not, we'll have Wiley help you out."

We split and started to look at stuff that might interest us.

I was fairly bored as I picked up one weapon after the other before tossing it aside. Shikamaru had chosen to stay with me, probably cause

he figured I might pick up something he might like -like a water balloon- and save him a world of trouble.

I lifted up a dagger and showed it to him.

"You suck at darts."

True…

I tossed it aside and held up a sword.

"You suck at Dungeons and dragons."

I rolled my eyes at that. Sucking at dungeons and dragons was definitely something to be proud of.

I threw the sword away and held up a lance.

"I doubt you'll be saving any damsels in distress."

Pick up weapon, listen to why I shouldn't get it, toss it away, pick up weapon, listen to why I shouldn't get it, toss it away…

It was a system that was working well for the both of us.

"Don't you think the Demon-riders would know all about these weapons?" Shika asked suddenly and I sighed.

"It's not like you can make up a weapon to surprise them," I pointed out.

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "Well, I suppose you could always throw a water balloon at them and watch as they dodge it and kill you anyway."

"It would save us a lot of trouble."

"I was under the impression you enjoyed life."

Shika sighed. "I just think death would be more taxing."

Hmm…

Well, maybe we could shock the demon riders with something new…like a landmine that shoots grenade-covered guns that shoot lasers.

"See anything you like?"

We both turned to face Wiley, who'd just sprang up from nowhere.

"Anything you have in mind?"

"I was thinking of a landmine that shoots grenade-covered guns that shoot lasers."

The man sighed and walked away.

Well, he _did_ ask what I had in mind…

We looked around abit more, staying away from the rocket-launchers and eyed the firearms warily.

We'd finally made it passed the first row of weapons when Wiley called us.

"I have a great weapon for you gentlemen," Wiley announced from the end of the row.

He held up a club and I failed to see what was so great about it.

It had sharp spikes all around its head and pretty much looked like a medieval weapon.

"This is the morning star. Useful for bashing enemies over the head and when not on the battle field, for keeping your wife and kids in order.

It can _also _be used as a backscratcher!"

Yeah…I could totally see him in an infomercial.

"No thank you," Shika said dryly. "I've found what I want."

I stared at Shikamaru as he held up the weapon of his choice.

WTF?

I blinked.

"Is that a board with a nail in it?"

He nodded.

"What the hell are you going to do with it?"

He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Might as well get yourself a sharp pointy stick."

"I think they're sold out."

"Oh."

Wiley looked at us like we were wasting his precious time before turning away and motioning for us to follow, grabbing the board from

Shikamaru and throwing it away.

He led us into a back room filled with chests, trunks and drawers. He started to rummage through a large chest, almost falling all the way in

as he searched for what we assumed was something that would kill us both quickly and quietly.

Making a satisfied noise, he pulled out something and held it up to the light.

It was a glove.

He looked at me and grinned, handing it to me as he said, "I made it for the Autumn who…" he shook his head. "It'll suit you just fine."

The glove was fingerless and had the Autumn insignia of a leaf on it. It was all black with gold trimming and I knew this was what I was

getting whether it turned out to be an actual weapon or not.

I tried it on and it fit perfectly.

As I was admiring it, Wiley handed me a bow.

I stared at it.

He sighed impatiently and motioned for me to use it.

"But I have no arrows."

He grabbed me and placed me in front of a bull's eye target set on the wall.

"Just aim."

I felt foolish for doing what he said, especially with no arrow, but as I stretched my hand out over the bow as if I did have an arrow in my

hand, I watched in surprise as one actually did appear.

I let it go and it ran straight through the bull's eye.

Wiley grinned and clapped me on the back.

"Perfect."

Yeah…it was.

"As for you…" He sighed, turning to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru frowned. "I'd like something that would take minimum effort and if possible, is thought controlled."

Wiley snorted and handed Shikamaru a locket.

He stared at it. "What's this?"

Wiley rolled his eyes at Shika's weapon-uneducated self and said, "It's a flame thrower."

Shika looked skeptical and held it up.

"Just think about being under attack."

A moment later, Shikamaru let out a very unmanly squeak as he dropped the growing locket which grew to be some contraption about his

size and looked like some kind of circular catapult.

Wiley handed Shika a string and told him to pull it, which he did. Flames appeared over the machine and were thrown up into the air,

crashing into the ceiling.

"Don't worry, my ceiling's fire absorbent."

Yay.

Shika seemed to be pleased with the fact that he didn't have to load it, clean it, remember where he put its keys or _aim_. All he had to do was

let it know that he was under attack and the weapon did all the work for him.

"It's mostly suited for long range attacks," Wiley explained.

"What about for defense?"

Wiley's eyes widened in affronted shock and disgust. "A _weapon_? For defense?"

He spat out 'defense' like it was one of the seven deadly sins.

It was weird.

"I'm sorry," He said coldly. "My weapons are not for pansies who're afraid of death."

"It's for the courageous fools running toward their deaths?" Shika asked.

"Yes."

Sarcasm is obviously lost on the store owner.

By the time everyone was done getting their weapons, the most obvious being Sakura's lasso (which made me laugh cause I thought of

Wonderwoman's Lasso of Truth or whatever it was called. But hey, maybe it does other things) and Sasuke's sword.

We walked back to the bus with our purchases (Anko paid again) and were too tired to ask where we were going next. Anko told us anyway.

"It's too late to get back top Suna now. We'll have dinner and spend the night at a hotel before beginning your training tomorrow."

No one argued with her.

**(I am a naked page break. Super boobs ACTIVATE!)**

I was sharing a suite with Shikamaru and Kiba. At least we had our own beds though. We'd had dinner in the hotel lobby before coming up

to our rooms. The suite next door belonged to the Winter guys and I could almost feel the chill coming from there.

Kiba and Shikamaru were already in bed and I was the only one in the suite lounge, staring up at nothing.

It's almost midnight and I _couldn't _sleep. This time, it was my fault though. I didn't _want _to sleep. I had a short nap earlier but woke up cause

of that dream…the same boring one.

I'd found out at dinner that Sasuke had named his falcon, Kess and Sakura's puma is Toph. They both happen to be female. Guess they

weren't feeling too creative with names for these ones.

Kirin and Siam were safe somewhere and well, I didn't really see the point if they could be that easily replaced. Wasn't a bond with a partner

supposed to be something for life?

I looked at Kyuubi asleep on the cushion by my side and scowled. Maybe I could use the little furball to get dates. Girls love that sort of

thing, don't they?

I heard shuffling past our door followed by fast, harsh whispers, like people were arguing.

I crept closer to the door and pressed my ear to the cold wood.

"We have to go _now_."

Anko?

"Everyone's downstairs already."

Kakashi.

"The attacks already started! It was a bad idea to leave Suna unprotected."

"If we didn't, who was going to protect-"

"Look, that's not important. All the kids are here and they're all safe. We need to go save the people we left behind."

"And who'll stay to protect the kids if the attack's just a diversion?"

"We don't have time to argue about this! Leave Ibiki or someone but-"

"Anko-"

I heard running footsteps which told me Anko had decided to ignore him and go along with her plan.

My brain was on overdrive.

Okay…so my dream had been real. The attack was going to happen…was _already_ happening and they'd gotten us out of there to protect us.

They'd be distracted with everything.

This was my chance to escape.

I dashed to the bedroom and grabbed my jumper and wore my shoes. I opened the door just a crack, checking the brightly lit but empty

hallway.

Perfect.

I ran down the hallway, away from the elevator and rushed down the emergency exit, running down the stairs as fast and as quietly as I

could.

When I finally reached the ground floor, I stepped out into a cold alley and caught my breath. My heart was racing as I tried to think of my

next step.

I crept toward the building's edge and saw the tour bus along with five smaller cars.

I could see Anko at the entrance talking to Ibiki and Kakashi while Jiraiya and Tsunade were both seated behind the wheels of the other

cars, with Shizune in Tsunade's car. Orochimaru was in one of the cars with Kabuto at the wheel.

I assumed Kakashi and Anko were taking the last two cars.

If I stayed low, I could make it to the last car without anyone seeing me.

I practically crawled to the car, not even thinking that maybe the alarm was on or that it was locked or that maybe it wasn't the brightest idea

for me to get in the car with one of them knowing that if I got caught they'd just bring me back.

But I was betting on the fact that they needed to get back to the castle immediately…and that they were too busy to notice me.

I opened the back door and crept in, shutting it quietly. I crouched behind the driver's seat, hoping whoever was driving wouldn't need to

adjust their seat and try to crush me. I couldn't get into the boot not knowing how long the drive would take or if I'd be let out.

The aim was to get away, not to die trying.

"We don't have much time!"

I heard Anko speak before the front door was thrown open and shut as she got in.

I stayed silent, barely breathing while she started her engine and pulled out.

If they were in such a rush, how were they going to get to Suna on time? It had taken us almost all day just to get from the castle to the

village and here they were hoping that driving really fast would get them there on time?

It didn't make sense.

"Tora Serem…"

The words were whispered but there was no doubt in my mind as to what they were.

It was rumored that Seasons and hosts could use magic…and that in their world, magic was a commonly used element.

Anko had just used Veloran…which is like Latin, a magical language.

She'd just used a spell.

Suddenly, my stomach felt heavy like it does when you're in an elevator and I almost gasped as I risked a glance out the window.

The stars seemed much closer than they were before.

The car was in the air.

We were flying.

I thanked the powers that be for my lack of airsickness as Anko was most definitely one of the worst pilots _ever_. She swerved in and out of

clouds like there was traffic.

Now, unless there were some migrating ducks in her way, there was no need for the reckless flying.

As she flew I tried to think of what I'd do when…or if…I finally got back to my own world.

I couldn't go back to school… I'd have to leave town and continue my education from somewhere else, hopefully a small town where people

rarely talked about the Seasons. Wishful thinking on my part.

Staying in Konoha was a definite no.

I'd either be ridiculed for being an ungrateful bastard or they'd send me back.

I don't know why people just can't accept the fact that there _will_ be people who can't stand the Seasons…people who think the world would

be better off without them.

It would have made more sense to me if I'd been chosen as a demon rider.

Even as I thought that, I shook my head.

I hated the riders almost as much as I hated the seasons.

Almost.

Suddenly, I heard a loud roar.

It chilled me to the bone and for the first time, I wondered if maybe this whole 'escape' thing was such a bright idea.

Anko was headed toward the demon riders and their demons.

To fight.

My heart hammered loudly in my chest in fear as the car jerked in the air and Anko swore softly.

I just hoped she didn't jump out of the car and dive into battle without at least parking properly.

Another growl and I had to fight back the fear that had me frozen behind Anko's seat. I had to get away.

I bit my lip to keep silent and the next thing I knew, it felt like the car was hurtling through the air, propelled by the seductive pull of gravity.

We hit the ground **hard** and it was a miracle my teeth didn't break through the skin of my lip. The door was thrown open as Anko ran out

without shutting it.

I waited.

The ground shook and I could swear my heart stopped.

Shouts and cries filled the air and I could smell smoke. By now, I was dying to know what the hell was going on.

I raised my head slowly and looked up.

The light confused me and for a second, I wondered whether the sun was coming up before a sharp blast shook the ground as well as my

brain- enlightening it to the fact that the light was from a blazing inferno. The castle grounds were on fire.

Anko had landed the car a short distance from the gates and I could make out large creatures breathing fire onto the grounds, looking

ominous in the glare of the red glow.

I heard a soft sound and looked down.

Oh no.

A small face was looking up at me from my jumper pocket.

"What the _hell _are you doing here? I left you on the couch!"

The fox seemed amused by that.

Frustrated and knowing this wasn't the safest place to berate the fox, I opened the door and fell out of the car, noticing that the other cars

were all closer to the gates.

The gates were open and I edged closer, pausing when I realized what I was seeing.

Dragons...everywhere...

Burning everything down.

My heart stopped as my brain reminded me that I was here to escape, not to do anything rash or foolish.

My brain took action and moved my legs, toward home...away from all this madness.

But then I heard something.

A desperate cry for help… at least that was how it sounded to me.

As I turned back to the scene before me, I knew I was _way _out of my league. I couldn't fight fire-breathing monsters... I _had _to leave but my

body wouldn't listen.

Taking myself toward the unorthodox barbecue, I knew I was doing something completely idiotic. Throwing my life away like this...

But it felt right. Rushing toward my doom without a second thought.

I dashed toward the gates and the fox in my pocket was silent.

I spotted Kakashi was in the air, atop Peaches. From him, waves of water blasted down at the dragons below them, drenching them and

putting out the fires at the same time. I watched, entranced.

Kakashi aimed with his hands and giant jets of water sprayed out from nowhere, and as they poured out, Peaches breathed fire, heating the

water and burning he dragons and their riders with both the boiling water and the steam- killing them if their cries and subsequent silences

before they fell to the ground were anything to go by.

Anko was on top of Manda, spinning around.

I couldn't tell what she was doing from here but every dragon that tried to get near her quickly fell.

I couldn't see the others but in the distance, I could barely make out large balls of fire that I had to assume were Tsunade and Shizune with

Ceres. Orochimaru and Jiraiya were farther away. I could see Gamabunta in the distance and was confused as to why Manda was with

Anko, instead of Orochimaru.

I stumbled momentarily when I was finally past the gates. There were no guards on the walls and I searched frantically for whatever had

made me come this way.

The place was starting to look like the scene in the dream I'd had.

I heard a sharp cry of anguish and followed it.

I rushed toward the sound and strained my ears. I ignored the battle sounds, surprised when they actually seemed muffled as I

concentrated on the noise I'd heard.

I rushed into the forest, running past the trees, jumping over stumps and coming to a sharp halt when, in a familiar looking clearing, I

spotted a man in a black cloak, holding a sword and pointing it at Gaara...who also had a sword in his hand.

I heard a soft groan released and I looked to the side, noticing the red headed janitor- Juugo, lying underneath a huge tree trunk. He was

obviously in a lot of pain and as I finally realized, Gaara was protecting him from the cloaked guy. Gaara's back was to Juugo and his step

faltered momentarily.

_Shit_.

Gaara's side was covered in blood. He was injured- badly.

_Shit, shit, shit..._

The man sprung forward and without thinking, I picked up a stick and moved forward too, rushing to block his sharp, pointy sword with my

branching, wooden piece of weaponry.

I didn't get to see Gaara's reaction to my sudden appearance as I was too busy shaking.

The man had stopped and started to laugh his ass off when he'd seen me valiantly protecting Gaara with a stick.

I felt really foolish.

Great, not only was I going to die- I was going to die a horrible embarrassing death.

I almost wished I'd carried my glove with me.

In the next moment, I felt myself being shoved and the man's laughter came out as a choked, garbled grunt.

Gaara had his sword in the man's chest. Right through his heart. I thought I noticed a light blue haze leave the cloaked man's eyes as he

tried to clutch as his chest.

The red head pulled out his sword and the man fell to the ground with a noisy thud.

"What are you doing here?"

I was surprised at Gaara's annoyed tone.

"Uh...trying to help?"

"You'll get killed. Go away."

I glared at him and he fell. For a moment I wondered if my glare had finally gained enough potency to kill but as I watched him swear as he

held his side, I figured it was his wounds.

"You're injured," I said unnecessarily.

He glared. "No shit."

Another groan had me swearing loudly as I moved forward, rushing to where Juugo was.

I noticed that one of the branches had pierced his side and was helping the rest of the tree pin him to the ground.

"Damn it."

Just as I was wondering how the hell I'd get the trunk off of him, there was a loud crash.

The tree-hating giant raccoon was back.

"Help him."

It looked at Gaara and bowed before moving to me and, ignoring my very presence, proceeded to lift the tree trunk off of Juugo, throwing it

to the side before disappearing again.

I fell to my knees next to the big guy whose blood was now gushing freely.

"Shit, shit, shit, _shi_-"

"Stop swearing and bandage him up."

I wanted to glare at Gaara so badly but decided to do it later. My hands were shaking as I ripped open Juugo's shirt, thankful that I used to

actually pay attention in First aid class. I hurriedly checked for pieces of grass or wood before shrugging off my jumper. I grabbed part of my

shirt and tore at it, leaving my wife beater intact. I made quick strips and held Juugo up as I reached round him, bandaging him up quickly to

stop the bleeding. When mine ran out, I tore his shirt, using it till all that was left was his long-sleeved undershirt. I sighed when I was done,

glad that it actually did seem to stop the bleeding.

I lay him back down, knowing I couldn't move him and I ran back to Gaara.

"What happened?"

His breathing was shallow and I noticed he'd lost a helluva a lot of blood.

"_Fuck_."

"Does swearing make you feel better in these kinds of situations?"

"Will you just shut up and tell me what to do?"

Gaara snorted. "How can I shut up _and _tell -"

"Stop being a smartass. You're bleeding."

"Yes, I know."

"Shit, man-"

A rustle behind me and the widening of Gaara's green eyes had me turning immediately.

Another man in a dark cloak was staring at us. His pale blue eyes shone with bloodlust as he smiled.

"Who're you? A boy servant without their uniform?"

Far from wondering what the hell he was talking about, I was getting frustrated.

I was having the worst fucking day of my life.

I grabbed Gaara's sword and stood, shaking in anger.

"I just can't catch a freakin' break today!"

The man looked surprised but stood still as I glared in fury. "I find out that every other season and their _grandma _can control an element and

I can't! I get drugged _again! _I have every little girl's dream pet as my bloody battle partner! I nearly escape this hell hole, NEARLY, but no, I

had to come in this stupid place to help and this bloody idiot-" I point at Gaara with his sword. "-practically tells me I'm in the way and that

guy-" I point at the dead man. "-had the nerve to laugh at me! I mean, sure I was carrying a stick but really, there's such a thing as courtesy

and-"

"You talk too much."

That was _it_.

I barely noticed the sand and leaves that were swirling at my feet, or the fact that they were slowly creeping up my legs.

I was pissed.

The man seemed surprised and whispered, "You're a Season."

He quickly blocked my sword as I swung it at him, shouting in frustration.

He smirked and I swear I saw red.

The sand and leaves moved swiftly over my body, swirling round my arm and onto the sword.

"Little boy-"

"Fuck you."

Little charges of what looked like lightning flashed around the sword, moving in random swirls from the hilt to the blade. The next moment, I

swung again and when he block it, he swore loudly in anguish and fell, clutching at his eyes. They were bleeding.

I looked at my sword and dropped it, the blade had been encased in glass- glass that had shattered when he'd tried to defend himself. In

the back of my mind, I remembered learning something in school about how glass could be formed when lightning struck sand…

"Naruto... kill him."

I stared at Gaara, open mouthed.

_Kill_?

I looked at the man writhing on the ground, cursing my ancestors and I shook my head. I couldn't kill him.

I couldn't kill anyone.

My rage and fury forgotten, I sank to the ground.

What the hell was going on?

"Naruto-"

"Shut the hell up!"

Gaara must have realized that talking to me when I was having a massive breakdown wasn't the best of things to do at the moment cause

he didn't try speak again. I moved toward him, ignoring the bastard who was still whining about his eyes on the ground a few feet away. I

grabbed my jumper and put it back on. I was sure Juugo had passed out but when I glanced over, his eyes were slightly open and his chest

was moving so I calmed down slightly. I needed to go get help but I could still hear battle cries in the distance.

"Naruto, behind you!"

I spun round and froze.

Another cloaked guy was here, his eyes shining brightly as he glared at me. He didn't seem too concerned about his friends on the ground.

He raised one giant sword and I just knew this was it. I was so dead. Gaara's sword was too far away and I couldn't crawl there fast enough.

Even if I did, I couldn't really use a sword... Didn't really know how... except for my experience with video games.

"So... You managed to kill one of my comrades eh?"

I frowned. "Gaara did it. I just kinda blinded the other one... who's still alive."

He didn't care.

"I really think you should help him. He's hurt."

The man just chuckled and when he looked at me, I stared in surprise. Were all their eyes this kind of pale blue? Were they all related or

something?

He raised his sword menacingly as he started to walk toward me.

"Shit..."

"Swearing isn't helping," Gaara stated calmly.

"Yeah well, neither are you." I hissed. "What do we do?"

"Die with honour."

"Apart from that."

"I really can't think of anything else."

"Great."

Just as the man got close enough to kill us, something dropped out of my pocket. We all stopped and looked down at the red-gold ball of

fuzz that was glaring menacingly at the cloaked man.

"Is this thing for real?"

Before we could answer, Kyuubi spread out his hind legs and let out a growl.

An actual growl.

A loud, ear-splitting growl.

Kyuubi then abruptly stopped and stared at the frozen man cutely. The man then let out a scream- a scream of someone in agonizing

pain...and fell to the ground. I carefully moved toward him, grabbing his sword and throwing it aside before he could scramble back up and

kill us.

Kyuubi yipped and tugged at my pants leg.

I looked down at him. "Hey...you grew a tail!"

The little furball jumped, wagging its tail and I picked him up, placing him in my pocket. He poked his head out and stared up at me.

"Whoa, what did he _do_?" Gaara asked in awe.

I looked down at the man and paled.

Blood was running from his ears and nose...and his eyes, even though they were shut, looked wide and swollen. I was sure they'd burst

from whatever super hero fox growl Kyuubi had let loose on him.

He looked a proper bloody mess and I couldn't-

"Naruto!"

I fell to my knees on the forest floor, holding my stomach. The sight and smell of blood were getting to me. The dead men -both of them- on

the forest floor were making my head spin. The screaming one wasn't helping either.

My hands were still covered in Gaara and Juugo's blood.

"Hey, you okay?"

I didn't answer. I backed away from Gaara when he tried to touch my shoulder. Memories of another time flooded my head...

Blood everywhere...

The smell of burnt flesh...

People screaming for help...

All my fault...

"Get away from me."

"Naruto, you need to calm down."

I stared back at Gaara, pissed off beyond belief, but for the moment I couldn't gather enough energy to scream and yell. All I could think

about was how I wasn't cut out for this.

"Naruto..."

"I just wanted to help... I didn't want to be here... I don't want to be a bloody Season!"

I leaned against a tree trunk, half expecting another dude in a cloak to come try to kill us. Kyuubi crawled up my jumper and licked my face

and that moment was the most comforting I'd had all week. I placed him on the ground.

"Thanks Kyuu."

"That's okay."

I stared.

It just... He just…

Kyuubi...

"You just..._talked_?"

Kyuubi chuckled and I gaped.

The little guy then trotted over to Gaara and licked his hand. A second later, he was licking Juugo's hand and I wondered whether he had

some sort of licking fetish.

"Your partner," Gaara started, looking at his side and standing like his wound was completely healed. "What is he?"

I wondered what he was talking about but Juugo stood up, Kyuubi held gently in his hands.

"He...healed us."

I blinked. "Really?"

There was rustling and footsteps and we all froze.

Someone else was coming.

"Gaara!"

I slumped in relief. It was Yuukimaru.

He looked at me momentarily before turning to Gaara.

"We need to get out of here. Everyone's in the cellar and civilians are safe. The seasons are going to destroy the place."

I blinked. "Cellar?"

Like a basement?

Yuukimaru nodded briefly before turning away. I grabbed Kyuubi and placed him back in my pocket. Yuukimaru led the way through the

trees back toward the castle, explaining as we ran.

"The seasons have led them a short way away and we only have fifteen minutes!"

"Where's the cellar?" I asked, panting.

"Near the accountants building!"

I paled. "But that's across the castle! We won't make it in time!"

"Not if we go _through _the castle!"

Before I could respond, we'd reached the entrance.

We ran up the steps and into Year where Yuukimaru tugged on my jumper. "This way!"

Instead of turning left and going to the Autumn wing, we went right. The blazing sun on the twin doors had me pausing momentarily but

Yuukimaru threw them open and ran in.

Juugo and I followed Gaara into the summer hall.

I rushed in and stared.

The hall was a dark shade of blue, like the night sky…or a vacuum in space. Little fireballs were floating around the halls, surrounded by

other balls that closely resembled planets. It was a beautiful sight... The hall looked like a tiny portion of the universe had been cut out and

thrown, miniaturized into Summer's hall. It was stunning.

"Wow."

"You won't be able to appreciate it if you're dead," Gaara stated, pulling me forward.

We ran up to the end of the hall where there was a dead end.

Yuukimaru ran straight for it, jumping as he reached the end and…passing through the wall.

Knowing I'd probably hesitate again, Juugo picked me up and ran with me toward the wall. I yelled and shut my eyes as we went right

through it. Juugo put me down as Gaara appeared behind us.

The hall had snowflakes of varying shades of blue and white, falling onto white and blue snow on the ground. The ceiling was covered with

puffy white clouds, dropping the snowflakes down onto us.

It was chilly but somehow, it seemed like it was perfect for the Winter guys.

"No one got into the castle?" Gaara asked uneasily.

Yuukimaru shook his head. "It's like they knew the seasons were gone. They didn't bother."

Gaara nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

We ran through the hall, passing doors with plaques and names on them before we got to twin doors that served as the usual entrance for

the Winter hall. Leaving the hell, we came to a large room with steps leading to a pair of door with a droplet of water set on them in blue

gemstone.

Yuukimaru led the way again as we ran into Spring hall and I gaped. The floor was flooded and a bunch of umbrellas of rainbow colours

were arranged in a perfect line to the end of the hall. Light rain was falling from the ceiling but the water on the floor never rose above the

level of flooding it was at already. Falling with the rain were various colours of flower petals, flowing as if in a breeze, unaffected by the

raindrops. The flowers swirled as they fell, landing gracefully in the water before vanishing after seconds, only to fall again.

The only thought that occurred to me was that this was the most beautiful wing, to me…and it suited Hinata perfectly.

I could see the wall in the distance and frowned. "Does that wall lead to my wing?"

"No," Juugo said patiently. "It leads to the outside."

Yuukimaru looked at his watch. "Five more minutes."

As we sprinted, it occurred to me that we were on the second story…and if the wall led to the outside-

I shut my eyes as we ran through it and bent my legs as we fell, bracing myself for the landing.

I was right.

My legs stung as they met the ground as I fell forward.

"Is the cellar that indestructible?" I asked breathlessly.

The dragons in the distance were fighting valiantly with Peaches and Gamabunta.

"Yes," Yuukimaru said, getting up and getting us all to follow him through the back way, brushing past hedges as we made our way to the

Accountants building. "Once it locks, no one can get in and-" he glanced at the watch on his hand. "-it locks in two minutes."

Seeing that as motivation, we pushed forward and finally reached the damn building.

Juugo slammed right into the door, apparently saving us from wasting time by turning the knob. He turned right in the dark and we followed

him down a short flight of stairs before getting to a room that looked like the basement.

Yuukimaru hurriedly moved a shelf and pulled open what looked like a safe. It came open, revealing the hundreds of people inside. One

more minute, I estimated.

Yuukimaru got in, followed by Juugo and-

"So _that's_ where the infamous safe is…"

Gaara and I spun around.

There was a someone standing a few feet away from us.

Crap.

Before I could think, I shoved Gaara through the safe door, grabbing his sword as I did.

Before Gaara could come back through, I shut the door in his face.

"That was either really brave or really stupid."

I took in a deep breath and turned to face my would-be murderer.

"I tend to do stupid things under the guise of bravery."

He laughed and somehow, it didn't strike me as the usual evil laugh that comes with a moustache twirl and a bad toupee.

I held up the sword and he chuckled.

"That won't do you any good."

"I know."

He stepped toward me and I raised the sword, waiting for him attack.

"I'm not here to hurt you, you know."

I snorted.

He shrugged. "Okay, I know it looks bad cause we destroyed your pretty grass and killed some of your soldiers but that's only cause they

wouldn't hand you over."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes. We know all about your plan to kill the new Seasons."

This time he laughed really hard and I grew irritated. It's not like I was an aspiring clown.

"The Seasons?" he gasped in between breaths. "No, silly. We're here for you."

Me? He obviously had me confused with somebody else.

I tensed and the next second, he was behind me, his gloved hand pressing lightly against my neck where I knew there was a pressure

point.

"Yes, Naruto…_You_."

As I fell unconscious _again_, I wondered if people got some sort of thrill from kidnapping me.

**TBC…**

**A/N: I hope the chapter was alright.**

Um...next on my update list is probably Falling For Him...probably.

If not, there's An Unlikely romance...

**PS: Thanks for pointing out the errors guys, I went back and hopefully corrected all of them...but FF keeps messing up my spacing!  
**

**Had to delete it the first time I uploaded it cause it was cramped and lost a few words.  
**

**Also, to note a few things: Hinata, Naruto and Genma are OOC. I know and I apologize if you don't like that. It just seemed to fit **

**with how I wanted to portray them in this fic…and I usually cant stand a fainting, stuttering Hinata, even though I really like her **

**(fan girl alert).**

**For Kishimoto's home address, press 1.**

**For Sasuke in a bikini, press 2.**

**For a lifetime supply of ramen-jutsu and world domination via chocolate war, press 3.**

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Naruto, Humor, Supernatural